KRISTINA REPORTS

Well-known among his peers as an astute politician, seasoned technocrat and formidable ally of the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, whom he served with while the latter was Governor of Rivers State, George Fubara Tolofari, the Chairman of the State Caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and leader of APC in his home LGA, Bonny, briefed journalists on the circumstances that led to the rescheduling of the elections in Bonny LGA. Kristina Reports here reproduces his statement at the press briefing. Enjoy: It is impossible. Anybody that knows me will know that such a narrative is against my person. It's not true at all, I didn't do that when I was in office, when I held political positions and all that, it's now that I'm a senior stakeholder in the state? So, I wouldn't do a thing like that at all. It's unfortunate that I heard that the council chairman, Mr. Irimagha held a press conference where he accused me of using thugs to overrun the INEC

President Muhammadu Buhari has been declared the winner of the 2019 Presidential Election.  Buhari was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He was declared winner of the polls by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who was also the chief returning officer of the election.  Yakubu announced that Buhari polled 15,191,847 votes to defeat his closest rival and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, who polled 11,262,978 votes.  The keenly contested election saw the participation of 73 candidates.  INEC says it will issue a certificate of return to President Buhari later today by 2pm.

By Bayo Onanuga It is now crystal clear that Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress is heading for a crushing defeat of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party. There had been surprises and upsets in many states as the results were announced, but not predicted was that the APC candidate, vilified on social media by PDP warriors, on the pulpits by bigoted hate preachers, would return a resounding victory against PDP. Here are some of the lessons learnt in the February 23 election: 1. Social media power overrated: If elections are won on Twitter and Facebook, President Buhari would by now be writing his handover notes and be preparing to tend his cows on his farm in Daura. But the limitations of the social media platforms especially Twitter have just been exposed by the results of the election. The candidate of the PDP got more retweets, more likes for tweets by supporters on Twitter, but such preferences count for nothing in the re

The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Maj.-Gen. Jamil Sarham, has paraded Governor Nyesom Wike’s Commissioner for Urban Development and Physical Planning, Dr. Reason Onya; and the representative of Ahoada West constituency in Rivers House of Assembly, Nwanaka Okpokiri, for rigging last Saturday’s elections in the state. The Camp Commandant of Government House, Port Harcourt, Oyoku Ifelle, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP); Major Akpoge Peter Ubah of 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt and thirty one others, including policemen, thugs and ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), including two women, were also paraded. Maj.-Gen. Sarham paraded the 35 suspects Tuesday through 6 division’s Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Aminu Iliyasu, at a crowded news conference at 6 division, Port Harcourt on the discoveries and arrests made by troops of the formation, in conjunction with o

President Muhammadu Buhari  of  the All Progressives Congress (APC) is currently leading his closest rival and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar with a narrow margin. In the results announced so far, Buhari won the election in Kogi, Kwara and Nasarawa in the North Central geopolitical zone;  Ekiti and Osun in the South West and Gombe in the North East. The  presidential election results were announced at the National Collation Centre being presided over by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu. In Kogi, the President won with 285,894 votes against Atiku's 218, 207; Nasarawa, 289,903, against PDP's 283,7847; Kwara, 308,984, and  PDP, 138,184. President Buhari's party, APC won in Osun State with 347,634 votes while the PDP polled 337,377 votes; and Ekiti with 219,231 votes against PDP's 154,032. In the North East, the Daura born general also took Gombe whete his  party, t

EMERGENCY MEETING OF THE AMANYANABO-IN-COUNCIL AND TITTLE CITIZENS' OF BONNY KINGDOM ON MONDAY 25TH FEBRUARY, 2019 AT THE KING PEREKULE PALACE, BONNY.               A COMMUNIQUE An emergency meeting of the Amanyanbo-In-Council withTittle Citizens of Bonny Kingdom at the instance of His Majesty King Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III, CON, JP, Perekule XI, Natural Ruler and Amanyanabo of Bonny was summoned to address the circumstances that led to the disenfranchisement of the people of Bonny Local Government Area in the Presidential and National Assembly Elections that took place on Saturday 23rd February. A.   Following exhaustive deliberations by the stakeholders at the meeting, it was explicitly resolved that: 1. The postponement of the said election in Bonny was orchestrated by the stalling of the electoral process by All Progressive Congress (APC) Bonny Leadership on the claim that the materials and Electoral Officer for the L.G.A has been compromised. 2. 

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has rejected the presidential and parliamentary election results being announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, in a press briefing currently ongoing said the results being announced by INEC are inflated in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. According to Secondus, the results have fraught with “irregularities” and therefore, “incorrect and unacceptable.” According to him, “Our collation centres have the original results from all the polling units in the country. That is from where are going to reclaim our results,” he said. “The results are incorrect and unacceptable to our party. Officials of the APC working with INEC have decided to alter results to affect our people. This must now be resisted by every well-meaning Nigerian. “INEC must live up to its responsibility. They are under pressure. We have the facts and when the time comes, we begin to r

The Nigerian Army has fingered the Chairman of Akuku-Toru Local Government Area, Roland Sekibo, and two others as culpable in the election day mayhem that happened in Abonnema, headquarters of Akuku-Toru LGA of Rivers State.  Sekibo was yet to react to this allegation as at the time of this report.  In a statement by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa, the army claimed that hoodlums attacked its men who were on election security patrol in Abonnema during the  presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday, February 23, 2019.   Below is the the statement: PRESS RELEASE ARMED POLITICAL THUGGERY IN ABONNEMA, RIVERS STATE Information reaching Headquarters Nigerian Army (NA) revealed that troops of 6 Division on a legitimate duty of protecting lives and properties of law abiding citizens and ensuring a conducive environment for peaceful conduct of 2019 General Elections in Abonnema, Akuku Toru Local Government Area (LGA) River

PRESS BRIEFING BY HIS EXCELLENCY, NYESOM EZENWO WIKE, CON, GSSRS, POS OVER THE WANTON KILLINGS AND DESTRUCTIONS THAT CHARACTERIZED THE 2019 PRESIDENTIAL AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS IN RIVERS STATE ON SATURDAY 23RD FEBRUARY 2019. Protocols First of all, let me on behalf of the Government and people of Rivers State express my heartfelt condolences to the families of all those that were murdered by the army and the APC thugs before, during and after the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections in Abonnema, Obonnoma, Asarama and other communities in Rivers State. May their innocent souls rest in perfect peace. 2.​Recall that on the 14th of February 2019 I made a special broadcast in which I alerted the nation about the plans by the Minister of Transportation and the APC to cause mayhem in the State and scuttle the 2019 general elections with the active support of some operatives of the Nigerian Army and the Police. 2,​Before then, I had petitioned the Chief of Army Staff

APC, BONNY CHAPTER PRESS STATEMENT CANCELLATION OF ELECTIONS IN BONNY: OUR OWN SIDE OF THE STORY The attention of APC, Bonny Chapter, has been drawn to media stunts by the Peoples Democratic Party, Bonny chapter, especially the ones credited to the chairman of Bonny Local Government Council, Hon. David Irimagha, in which the unfortunate election-related incident of yesterday was blamed on the APC and its leader in Bonny, Hon. George Fubara Tolofari. In an interview he granted a Radio Station, the Bonny Local government council chairman, in a litany of lies and fabrications, accused Hon. George Tolofari of using thugs to stop the election. We wish to state categorically clear that in those media stunts, the PDP and Hon. David Irimagha have deliberately elected to distort facts just to demonize the APC, and ingloriously secure the underserved support and sympathy of Bonny people and residents. This, unfortunately, is coming from a collective of betrayers who recently s

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu may be jailed if the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State is not on the ballot for the 2019 general elections. A chieftain of the APC in Rivers State, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze stated this today in Port Harcourt. In a statement he personally signed, Eze advised Prof. Mahmood Yakubu “not to allow misleading interpretations of court judgements on Rivers elections put him into judicial troubles”. He admonished the INEC boss to avoid jail term by obeying the ruling of the courts and relisting APC on the ballot for the elections. Prof. Yakubu had, earlier today while fielding questions from journalists during the daily briefing by INEC on the rescheduled polls, maintained that the Rivers State chapter of the APC would not be on the ballot due to three court rulings before the commission. He further stated that the commission, as a law abiding institution, would abide by the r

The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt in a unanimous decision today struck out the appeal by Magnus Abe and 42 others seeking to be declared the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State. The presiding judge, Justice Bitrus Sanga, who read the unanimous judgment dismissed Abe's application as an “academic exercise” and lacking in merit. Abe, a senator representing Rivers South East in the National Assembly, and some of his henchmen, has gone to court seeking to be declared the candidates of the APC in the state after conducting direct primaries in defiance of the national leadership of the party which had sanctioned indirect primaries for the state chapter of the party. Today's judgment by the Appeal Court puts to rest Abe’s reported quest to wrest power from the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi as the leader of the APC in Rivers State.

The Nigeria Army and the Nigeria Police have cautioned the Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Emma Okah over claims that supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state stopped an army general and the Federal Special Anti-robbery Squad from tampering with election materials at the Central Bank in Port Harcourt. The 6 Division of the Nigerian Army (NA) described Okah’s claims as “unscrupulous, wicked, most bazaar and slanderous, and frivolous”, while the state command of the Nigeria Police Force said Okah’s statement was “not only disturbing and offensive but an orchestrated attempt to cause panic and heat up the polity”. The Police statement reads: “The attention of the Rivers State Police Command has been drawn to a Press Statement issued by Barr Emma Okah, the State Commissioner for Information and Communications, on the purported interception of FSARS’ Deployment List and planned attack of PDP men and NYSC members, before and during the Electi