This is just out of this world, remember this woman from super story? Toyin Tomato? Well shes now a mere support worker in London, checkout her interview:

What exactly has kept you  in England?
It’s my children.  There is a Yoruba saying  that ‘Ojo Ale Mi Ni Mo Lo tuse’( preserve my future) I’m taking care of my children because a time will come when it will be their turn to take care of me. I am slaving in England and i don’t give a damn what people say. I thank God, I have heard them say how can she move from grace to grass, how can she a whole movie star in Nigeria and be doing this kind of job here. I can do anything for money as long as it is not theft, cheat or sell myself or my morals. If it is to sweep the streets of London to make money to survive or keep my children going I ‘Sola Sobowale’ will do it. I believe in what is called Dignity of Labour. In England when i am going to work i don’t hide myself i put on my uniform from home, on my uniform it is written there ‘Household 21’ this is me, i am not ashamed and i don’t give a hoot about anybody when i know that i can’t beg for money so why should i pretend.
Are you a social Worker?
I am a support worker and i am proud of what i do.
The impression people had was that you were doing very well in Nigeria was it a wrong impression or what?
Well people are entitled to their opinion, and i can’t blame them but one thing i won’t do is call myself what i am not. They say i am doing well in Nigeria, how much are we being paid for our roles? If a do a movie i get maybe half a million my children attend good schools here before they left after i pay my children’s school fee, house rent  though thank God i have a house of my own, and i do some other things what do i have left? Like i said i won’t pretend to be what i am not and i must say that ’Sola Sobowale knows what she is doing.’
What is your love life like because a lot of people would like to know about your husband is he in England too?
I will not be able to answer that, i will just say ‘Let Them Say’.
There were rumours that you were in Saudi Arabia and that you were involved in drugs how did you take the news?
I was in England when i got the news, it was when i came home at the Airport that  people began to say that how did you do it we heard you were beheaded and i made a joke out of it. I said do you believe in magic it was all magic that placed the head back and they all laughed. But i was surprised though because i don’t even know where Saudi Arabia is on the map. I wonder why people just talk to tarnish another person’s image. God has made me the head and i shall not be relegated. I thank God for people who believed in me, and those who stood by me. Those that said ‘We know her yes she can shout, but she can never do that’. I thank God for them and i appreciate them. Let me use this opportunity to reassure my fans that ‘Sola Sobowale’ will never and i repeat with a capital ‘NO’ touch anything that is illegal. My father was a retired principal and my late mum a retired headmistress. I am proud of my family and where i am from so i am from a very disciplined background.
Were you ever arrested at any Airport at any time?
No .I am always at ease all the time, effortless when i am travelling no hassles, no stress but praises. 
Source: E24 - 7 Magazine

Former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has described the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Muhammed Buhari as a blackmailer for lying that the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN struck a deal with President Goodluck Jonathan for cabinet positions.

Buhari was quoted in an interview with Voice of America, VOA, that the ACN had sealed a deal with the PDP to vote for Jonathan in order to get some cabinet positions if Jonathan should win.

Tinubu, who spoke after doing his accreditation at Sunday Adigun, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday, said the party was planning to resume the alliance talk with the CPC should the presidential election entered a run-off but was amazed about Buhari’s statement to the VOA.

“So, may be, which is a strong may be, the election will throw up a run off and then we can resume the alliance talk. But I got a text from Chief Bisi Akande this morning that “General Buhari on Voice of America radio today said that ACN has already sealed a deal with the PDP for some cabinet posts and Speaker of House of Representatives.”

“That is false; if it is true that Buhari said so, it is blackmail and I don’t expect somebody of his calibre to make such statement. We are going to remain committed to our manifesto.

“If Jonathan will invite the leadership of ACN to even have a discussion on collaboration, he has done well. It means he has shown the desire to win the election. But what has Buhari done? Has he ever willingly contacted the leadership of ACN privately?

“Until we were rallied by some leaders who wanted us to form the alliance, Buhari never took a single proactive step. I don’t believe a man running for the president of Nigeria and not the Emir-ship of Katsina should not have the needed flexibility. To be a good leader, you have to be flexible and accommodating,” he stated.

In the botched alliance, Tinubu explained why it failed, saying that “in fact, in all honesty, Ribadu was even willing to step down when we consulted him. He was ready to make the huge sacrifice. But the other party remained unbendable.”

Tinubu added that a merger was first put on the table before CPC was formed but that Buhari rejected the idea, opting rather for an alliance.

“At that time, there was no CPC, what we had was TBO (The Buhari Organisation). Suddenly, CPC was registered. To me, at that state, instead of a merger to form a unified platform, they started talking about alliance.

“Alliance in a presidential system has never worked. You need to form a common platform, with a common manifesto, to be able to work together and be able to educate the people the difference between the common platform and the constituting parties.

“When the merger plan did not work, they dragged us back. Though, I won’t lay blame but Buhari, as a leader who is highly experienced, and has been a statesman and contested election twice and has complained of rigging and irregularities in court for a long time challenging the process, he should have seen that it is not wise to bring CPC in at the time we were rooting for a merger,” he said. According to him, “we still respected him and wanted to continue with the merger plan, but he said he wanted an alliance. So, the merger was suspended. However, if you want alliance, instead of a merger, you must be ready to negotiate and give and take and make sacrifices.

“But it is unfortunate that we are so self-centred and selfish to the extent that it beclouds our patriotic sense. They do not want to give, so they can take. We suspended the alliance talk till after the National Assembly election, the result of which showed that ACN has better strength and better spread than CPC.

“So, we should be the leader in the alliance. But they want to keep the presidential candidate as well as the running mate, in an alliance where we should be the leading pack. Now, the alliance is not strong enough to produce the senate president, neither can it produce the House of Representatives Speaker, so what are we going to get in return?

“I am ready to sacrifice my two legs to be amputated but you are not even ready to sacrifice your index finger. They were offering us cabinet positions which you can change your mind tomorrow and sack at will.

“But we were still ready to go along with the plan, in the interest of the nation only for us to discover that while we were negotiating the alliance, they are also speaking with the Save Nigeria Group, to which they have conceded the vice presidential slot,” he added.

Tinubu explained that “we accepted him but asked him to surrender the vice presidential slot. If we don’t have that, our own platform, which we have laboured so hard to build, will be in danger. So we proposed a merger which will be implemented after the election.

“We could not afford to jettison our symbol because it is the symbol of economy, especially for the poor. But we were ready for a joint logo that will show the broom on one side and Buhari’s pen on another side as a new logo for the future.

“The negotiation went to that extent. Yet, they refused to commit to that plan. At that point, it became clear that they are only after using us to win election, without having any regard for our platform.”

Reports have come in that Scores of reporters who gathered around Gen Buhari immediately after he cast his vote were left stunned as the bespectacled candidate responded to their questions in HAUSA!
Only after he had explained himself and his thoughts on the elections in his Hausa language did he finally address all Nigerians in English, as expected. ethnic bigotry ?  

Can you imagine the uproar if Goodluck emerged from the voting booth and immediately began a rambling speech in Ijaw or Igbo to onlooking national journalists?

quote: ‎"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around"

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Jonathan Trounces Buhari,Secures 75 Percent of Votes Cast http://bit.ly/fDaOD9

1. Did Buhari Answer Reporters In HAUSA After Casting Vote ? http://bit.ly/igdHzB

1. Sahara Reporters: Messy Presidential Elections as Jonathan’s Team Unleashes Rigging Spree http://bit.ly/eWlWbs

1. 
   
   
2. Post election violence in Gombe, Bauchi CPC youth unleash terror at least Ten Killed http://bit.ly/fNMgzn
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4. ACN/CPC alliance breakdown: The untold story, by Tunde Bakarehttp://bit.ly/gmHan7
5. Sunday Sermon: Effectual Fervent Prayer: Text: James 5:16 Prayer does not equip you for greater works. Prayer is... http://bit.ly/eif3kD
6. Nicolas Cage arrested in New Orleans Actor allegedly got in a drunken argument with wife, http://bit.ly/dTEjOd
7. Bloomberg Nigeria Awaits Presidential Election Results Amid Irregularities: April 17 (Bloomberg) -- Nigerians ar...http://bit.ly/i7AxJ9
8. France Bans Face-covering Islamic Veil http://bit.ly/dIFei6 

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The results from the Nigerian presidential polls held yesterday has tricked in, and HUHU can confirm that the incumbent, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has won the presidential election.His party the PDP secured 75% of the total votes

Text: James 5:16

Prayer does not equip you for greater works. 
Prayer is the greater work. ---- Oswald Chambers 

As mature Christians we are naive to ignore or deny the reality of spiritual conflicts between good and evil and our role in them as believing saints. Our main weapon in a prayer offensive is a keen knowledge and application of scripture "declared verbally" in the same way Jesus fought the devil in his wilderness experience.

1. Prayer is a vital key that connects us with our heavenly Father.

2. Prayer is both an incredible privilege and an awesome responsibility. It can move the hand of God in situations where there is no other hope.

3. Biblical prayer is crying to God out of the depths; it is the pouring out of the soul before God.

4. "Prayer is like the dove that Noah sent forth, which blessed him not only when it returned with an olive-leaf in its mouth, but when it never returned at all."

James 5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

• When a person is RIGHT with God, the power of his sincere prayer is tremendous!" 

• The conditions for that promise: "when a person is right with God and prays sincerely".

• Effectual fervent prayer is the hardest kind of work there is to do. Not only does it take more out of a person than any other kind of work, we have to handle ourselves with a strong discipline to make time for effectual fervent prayer.

I. Our natural tendency is to shrink back when it comes to praying for the impossible. 

A. The problem is that we rest the power of prayer too much upon ourselves. 
B. We think that we are the ones making things happen in prayer. 
C. Instead we are to see ourselves as instruments in the Lord’s hands for accomplishing his purposes through prayer. 
D. Prayer is an act of obedience and privilege for the believer. 
E. We are commanded to pray. But we are also invited to bring our needs before the Lord. 
F. We are to anchor ourselves in his faithfulness and promises. 
G. We are to see that the very fact that God commands us to pray is a foundation for effectiveness in our prayers

II. We hesitate to pray, thinking that it will do no good, but James calls our attention once again to the means God has established for doing his work among us—prayer. Do you believe this? We are so accustomed to neglecting prayer that it is hard for us to think of its power through God among us. 

The Power of Fervent Prayer

A. Peter was in prison awaiting his execution. The Church had neither human power nor influence to save him. There was no earthly help, but there was help to be obtained by the way of Heaven. They gave themselves to fervent, importunate prayer. God sent His angel, who aroused Peter from sleep and led him out through the first and second wards of the prison; and when they came to the iron gate, it opened to them of its own accord, and Peter was free.

B. ‘Prayer has divided seas, rolled up flowing rivers, made rocks gush into fountains, quenched flames of fire, muzzled lions, disarmed vipers and poisons, marshaled the stars against the wicked, stopped the course of the moon, arrested the sun in its rapid race, burst open iron gates, released souls from eternity, conquered the strongest devils, commanded legions of angels down from heaven. Prayer has bridled and chained the raging passions of man and routed and destroyed vast armies of proud, daring, blustering atheists. Prayer has brought one man from the bottom of the sea and carried another in a chariot of fire to heaven. What has prayer not done?’

What is it that makes our prayer effectual (or effective)? 

1. Fervent prayer is putting your whole self---all of your attention, your mind, your will, and your emotions---on that thing you’re praying about. That means your mind is focused on prayer instead of drifting off on other things. Fervent prayer will make a difference in the lives of people, but we must understand that it takes an effort and a sacrifice of our time.

2. In Matthew 15:22-28, the Canaanite woman would not take no for an answer. She asked for her daughter’s healing, and three times she was rejected. But she wouldn’t give up. She understood the heart and character of the Lord Jesus. She not only received the healing of her daughter, but was commended by Jesus: "Woman, you have great FAITH!"

3. James gives us Elijah as the example of effective prayer in action (see verses 17-18). What gave Elijah the boldness to pray that the rain would stop, and then, at his word, start again? (1 Kings 17:1; 18:41-45). 

• Elijah’s prayer was BASED ON THE WORD OF GOD! 
All of Israel had turned away from the Lord to worship Baal, the idol-god of a cruel heathen religion. Up stands one solitary man, a total unknown, and boldly proclaims to the king that "there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word!’’ But his authority was based on a promise and warning found in Deuteronomy 11:13-17: 
4. Daniel also Discovered the Secret
In Daniel 9:3-19. Daniel poured out his heart in prayer before God that his people, who had been taken out of their homeland and held as captives in Babylon, would return to their land. The basis of his prayer can be seen in verse 2: 

" . . . I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years’’. 

The Lord had spoken right at the time when Judah had gone into captivity that they would be in Babylon for 70 years (Jeremiah 25:11-12). Daniel, reading the Scriptures one day, came across that promise and realized that the 70-year period was almost completed. However, he didn’t just sit back and wait for God to do it. Daniel began to PRAY that what God had promised would be fulfilled. The Lord has chosen to give us the privilege and responsibility of being involved with Him in His purposes on earth. Daniel lived to see his people return! 

• Effectual prayer, then, is prayer that is based on God’s Word. When we know the promises that He has given, and understand His character and the principles by which He works as revealed in His Word, we can pray with confidence and authority, knowing that our prayers will be answered. 

• Seek God’s Prayer Plan for Your Life!

There are many levels of prayer. God knows exactly where each of us are in our prayer life and our knowledge and understanding of prayer. 

He will honor even the most pitiful prayer a person offers in faith, if that is all they know to do. But He will not let us stay at that level. 

He wants us to move to greater levels of understanding, faith, and power. 

And the best way to progress is to simply say, "Lord, teach me to pray powerful and effective prayers." 

Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage was arrested in New Orleans after a drunken argument with his wife outside a residence in the French Quarter, police said Saturday.

The 47-year-old film star was taken into custody at about 11:30 p.m. on Friday and booked on suspicion of domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace and public drunkenness, New Orleans Police spokesman Garry Flot said in a written statement.

Cage was ordered to appear in court on May 31.

According to the statement, Cage was seen arguing with his wife on a street in the city's French Quarter.

"(Cage) and his wife were standing in front of a residence that he insisted was the property the couple was renting," Flot said in the statement.

"She disagreed and Cage grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her to what he believed was the correct address."

The actor then began striking cars and tried to get into a taxi cab, Flot said.

"At that point, an officer who had been flagged down by on-lookers drove up on the couple, immediately observed that Cage was heavily intoxicated and ordered him out of the cab, which prompted Cage to start yelling. The officers subsequently took Cage to Central Lock-Up," Flot said.

There were no visible injuries to Cage's wife, he said.

Cage, the nephew of film director Francis Ford Coppola, is best known for such films as "Raising Arizona," "Gone in 60 Seconds" and "National Treasure."

He has twice been nominated for an Academy Award, winning the Oscar for his portrayal of a down-and-out alcoholic in the 1995 film "Leaving Las Vegas." 

rance Bans Face-covering Islamic Veil

 
France’s new ban on Islamic face veils was met with a burst of defiance Monday, as several women appeared veiled in front of Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral and two were detained for taking part in an unauthorized protest.
France on Monday became the world’s first country to ban the veils anywhere in public, from outdoor marketplaces to the sidewalks and boutiques of the Champs-Elysees.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy set the wheels in motion for the ban nearly two years ago, saying the veils imprison women and contradict this secular nation’s values of dignity and equality. The ban enjoyed wide public support when it was approved by parliament last year.
Though only a very small minority of France’s at least 5 million Muslims wear the veil, many Muslims see the ban as a stigma against the country’s No. 2 religion.
About a dozen people, including three women wearing niqab veils with just a slit for the eyes, staged a protest in front of Notre Dame on Monday, saying the ban is an affront to their freedom of expression and religion.
Much larger crowds of police, journalists and tourists filled the square.
One of the veiled women was seen taken away in a police van. A police officer on the site told The Associated Press that she was detained because the protest was not authorized and the woman refused to disperse when police asked her to. The officer was not authorized to be publicly named.
The Paris police administration said another woman was also detained for taking part in the unauthorized demonstration.
It was unclear whether the women were fined for wearing a veil. The law says veiled women risk a euro150 ($215) fine or special citizenship classes, though not jail.
People who force women to don a veil are subject to up to a year in prison and a euro30,000 fine ($43,000), and possibly twice that if the veiled person is a minor.
The law is worded to trip safely through legal minefields: The words “women,” “Muslim” and “veil” are not even mentioned. The law says it is illegal to hide the face in the public space.
Moderate Muslim leaders in France and elsewhere agree that Islam does not require women to cover their faces, but many are uncomfortable with banning the veil. Religious leaders have denounced the measure, and are struggling with what to advise the faithful.
The plans for a ban prompted protests in Pakistan last year and warnings from al-Qaida. It also has devout Muslim tourists skittish, since it applies to visitors as well as French citizens.
Authorities estimate at most 2,000 women in France wear the outlawed veils. France’s Muslims number at least 5 million, the largest such population in western Europe.
The ban affects women who wear the niqab, which has just a slit for the eyes, and the burqa, which has a mesh screen over the eyes.
Kenza Drider, who lives in Avignon and wears a niqab, calls the ban racist. She was planning to attend Monday’s protest.
Right before the ban came into effect, she said she would continue to go “shopping, to the post office and to city hall if necessary. I will under no circumstance stop wearing my veil.”
“If I am warned verbally and must appear before the local prosecutor…. I will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights,” she told AP Television News.

PRESS STATEMENT BY PRINCE TONY MOMOH, NATIONAL CHAIRMAN, CONGRESS FOR PROGRESSIVE CHANGE ON THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF SATURDAY APRIL 16, 2011

Gentlemen of the Press

My party, the Congress for Progressive Change, would like to praise Nigerians who have shown more enthusiasm to pick the leaders of their choice than many involved in moderating the elections have exhibited. It will be most unfortunate if at this stage of so much craving for free, fair and transparent elections we have at this time those who have refused to accept that we need irreducible minimum standards of behaviour to persuade the world that we have indeed chosen the path of honour in obeying the rules that promote peace, order and discipline in any polity.

Last week, there were obvious lapses we drew attention to in the elections we held to the national assembly. A lot of anomalies were recorded between the voting centres and the collating stations. The figures would just not add up. And as people have always been told, let them go to court. It is our view that elections must be won at polling centres through the people’s vote. The final outcome in other climes has been and should also here be that what happens at collation centres is the simple totalling of what the voters said through the ballot.

Reports reaching us from most polling stations from some zones of the country show clearly the trappings of freeness and fairness in the elections. Much as we concede to the INEC the obligation in law to announce results, we have access to the results posted at the various voting centres and we believe and insist that what we are given as results will be the totality of the votes cast.

We draw attention to the need for openness in the collation stage of the elections because of disturbing reports we have of massive infusion into our electoral process of the results of illegal ballot papers that have been discovered countrywide in the control of those who have no business having them. This is a clear breach of INEC directives which seemed to have been so very confidently obeyed in the breach than the observance.

Reports from the field show that there was a large turnout of voters in three geo political zones – North-East, North-West and North-Central. There was low turnout in the South-South, South-East and South-West. Free and fair on the face as the elections were in many places, they were characterised by large circulation of ballot papers/boxes and result sheets outside the approved polling stations before and during the elections.

There were violations of processes of the elections by INEC itself nationwide. These violations include the non-disclosure of the volume of electoral materials to political parties at national, state and local government levels; the absence of elections in many rural areas in places like Rivers. Akwa Ibom, Delta States, and most parts of the South East. There were also late commencement of elections in some places including Nanya and Lugbe in FCT, Jos North Local government, and Kashere in Gombe State. Most embarrassing was the non-release of results at polling stations, and where released, not pasting.

One area to which attention must also be drawn was the freighting and distribution of electoral material printed by identified presses of known party men. Sensitive materials of this nature should not only be carefully handled but should be seen to be so.

As we issue this statement, we are aware of intensive moves to mutilate results of the elections. The pattern of voting countrywide is being tracked and posted on the net. We plead most sincerely that no one should embarrass this country by manipulating results through imposing on the people what they did not say through the vote that represents the only power they have to show that in them and only in them does sovereignty reside.

Sgd

Prince Tony Momoh

National Chairman, Congress for Progressive Change

Mr. Alex Anene is the Chief Accountant of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

He was the Anambra Central Senatorial zone returning officer who declared the former Governor and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) senatorial candidate, Dr. Chris Ngige winner of the National Assembly election for the zone held last week Saturday.

Since the result was announced Monday night at the Tourist Gardens Hotel in Awka amidst tight security, Anene has been making the headlines.
But who actually is the man? Prof. Emeka Ezeonu, a former Dean Student Affairs of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, described him thus: "he is a very strong and formidable character, he is stubborn and unyielding on matters of principle."
One of the senior staff of the institution who spoke in confidence said Anene is a hard working staff and no nonsense person in the institution and outside.
He described him as a focused person who has never been associated with any scandal in the institution.
An old lecturer in the institution, who spoke in confidence was emotional about the saga. "Why is everybody talking about this man, is it because we are in Nigeria where truth cannot be told?


"Why are people so myopic that they cannot differentiate between truth and falsehood? We are talking of a man who told the world nothing but the truth. Why do they want to kill him. All I know is that in no distant time, Nigerians and indeed the entire world will know the truth about the Anambra Central Senatorial election debacle

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State and former Governor Bola Tinubu have lost their wards to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP presidential candidate, Goodluck Jonathan.

P.M.NEWS checks revealed that in most of the polling units in the governor and Tinubu’s wards, Jonathan swept the polls in the results announced at the polling units by ad-hoc officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Fashola of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, lost his polling unit to Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC.

In Fashola’s polling unit, Jonathan scored 141 votes; Buhari, 90 votes and Nuhu Ribadu, 77 votes.

In other polling units in Fashola’s ward G3, Jonathan swept the polls in all, closely followed by Buhari while Ribadu came third.

At polling unit 002, in Fashola’s ward, the PDP got 64 votes; Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, 30 and ACN, 8 votes.

At polling unit 003, PDP polled 102 votes; CPC, 58 and ACN 26 votes. In polling unit 004, PDP got 152 votes; CPC, 63 and ACN, 25 while in polling unit 005, PDP got 142; CPC, 68 and ACN 31.

Early results from some polling centres across the country showed President Goodluck Jonathan and Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in a tight race in the presidential election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission across Nigeria on Saturday.

While Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party is believed to be having the upper hand in the South-South, South-East and South-West, Buhari led in many wards in the North-East, North-West and North-Central.

But Buhari, who contested the poll under the umbrella of the Congress for Progressive Change, has already alleged foul play in the conduct of the exercise. 

A confident President Goodluck Jonathan, after casting his ballot at Otazi Playground Polling Unit in Otuabula Ward 13, Otuoke Bayelsa State, promised to quit his position as president if he fails to win the election.

Malam Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria and Ibrahim Shekarau of the All Nigerian Peoples Party also assured that they would accept defeat if the election was devoid of malpractices.

Jonathan and Buhari performed excellently well in their wards, while Ribadu and Shekarau were floored in theirs.

For instance, out of the 480 people that were accredited in the Otubula, 413 voted for the President. 

Ribadu and Buhari scored no votes. Eleven votes were voided, while the remaining 56 accredited voters left without voting because of the long queue at the centre.

The President had impressive showing in Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, Oyo, Plateau, Ekiti and Ondo states, where results from some polling centres indicated that he had the upper hand.

Almost all the results from the South-East had not been made public as at 9 pm on Saturday. But results from three wards in Abia State indicated that Jonathan won in two, while the CPC won in one.

In Sarkin Yara Ward, Buhari, a former Head of State, who on Thursday announced that Saturday’s election would be his last shot at the Presidency, scored 496 votes, while the PDP had no vote. The ANPP scored two and the ACN, two.

The CPC floored the PDP again in Vice-President Namadi Sambo’s polling booth in Kaduna State. It scored 435 votes, while the PDP had 208.

The PDP was said to have lost to the CPC in many polling booths in Kaduna, Katsina, Borno, Kogi, Abuja, Niger, Kano, and Gombe, where results were made public as 8 pm on Saturday.

Ribadu scored only 85 ballots in his ward in Yola town. The CPC had 260 votes, while the PDP had 64 votes.

Jonathan had while casting his vote promised to use himself as an example to teach sit-tight leaders in Africa that political power belonged to the people.

He said the result of the presidential poll would not cause political mayhem in Nigeria like in Ivory Coast, where Mr. Laurent Gbagbo refused to relinquish power after losing the November 2010 poll.

The President said that for democracy to be consolidated in Nigeria, politicians must learn to respect the power of the ballot.

He warned that democracy would be erected on a weak foundation if politicians attemptted to render the ballot paper useless.

Jonathan, however, said he was happy that the country’s democracy was being consolidated on the power of the ballot, observing that the ongoing elections had restored people’s confidence in the electoral process.

He recalled his involvement in elections conducted in 1999, 2003 and 2007 and concluded that Nigerians had shown more interest and commitment in the 2011 elections than they did in previous ones.

According to him, the massive turnout recorded on Saturday had further emphasised people’s belief in the credibility and transparency of the process.

Describing the conduct of the election as a new dawn in Nigeria, the President who was accompanied by a retinue of security officials said it was high time politicians realised that power belonged to the people.

He said as part of his insistence on a transparent process, he had refused to interfere with the operations of INEC.

Jonathan, who was accompanied by his wife, Patience and his mother, said he gave INEC freedom it required to give Nigerians their chosen leaders.

When asked his opinion about the possibility of a run-off, he prayed against such development.

Referring to the country’s large population and cost of organising another election, he prayed that the winner of the presidential election should emerge in the first ballot.

According to him, deciding the winner in the first ballot would reduce the tension in the country and minimise cost.

He said, “I’m indeed happy that we’re consolidating democracy. Democracy must be built on a solid foundation. Foundation of which democracy is built on is the power of the ballot paper. If the ballot paper means nothing, then there is no democracy. Nigeria is now experiencing true democracy where we the politicians have to go to the people because the power belongs to the people.

“The power does not belong to the politicians. It belongs to the people as expressed in ballot boxes. People have shown high degree of commitment so you can describe it as a new dawn in our political evolution. 

“I promised I would contest the election as an incumbent president and I would not influence the electoral process. And that has been demonstrated in previous elections.

“I don’t know whether it will go into run-off. But I pray that we don’t go into such because of its implications. Nigeria is a very big country to conduct another round of election.

“If I lose. I will leave because that is what we are talking about.”

Buhari had before the results started trickling in alleged that thumb-printed ballot ballot papers were airlifted to different states in an attempt to compromise the presidential election. 

He claimed that when one of the planes landed at the Katsina Airport, supporters of the CPC were chased away before the ‘consignment’ was off loaded.

“One of such planes came earlier this (Saturday) morning to Katsina airport, and our people were driven away from the airport before the consignment was off loaded and driven straight to the Government House,” he said.

The CPC presidential candidate however said he would not go to court to challenge the outcome of the election. 

He stressed, however, that if he was taken to court, his party would rise to defend him.

In Kano, Shekarau said he would accept the outcome of the election so long as it was free, fair and credible. 

Shekarau, while speaking with newsmen after casting his vote, advised that the winner and losers should take the result as it is.

“It is normal in any election where two or three people contested, a winner and a loser must emerge,” the Kano state governor said.

At Bako Ward in Yola-South Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Ribadu said he will concede victory to any winner if the process is adjudged to be free and fair.

The ACN candidate, who cast his ballot around 1.15pm, assured Nigerians that he would be the first contestant to congratulate the winner.

“I will be the first person to congratulate the winner. I will be ready to join forces with him to move the country forward,” he added.

The election which witnessed mass turn out of voters in most parts of the country was described by foreign observers as an improvement on the April 9 National Assembly election. 

One of the observer groups, the National Democratic Institute, led by a former Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark said, “Things seem to be quite orderly.”

As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Nigeria is conducting 2011 presidential elections today, Saturday, April 16, 2011, Huhuonline.com brings the situation reports and updates for Presidential Polls at the various polling booths across the country..

The presidential election kicks off across the country as accreditation of voters was reported to have started as early as 8:00 am.

BAYELSA:

In Otuoke, in Bayelsa, country home of President Goodluck Jonathan, reports say that the President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was accredited alongside his wife, Patience, his mother, Eunice and several other aides at about 8:15am at his Otuoke polling unit, in Bayelsa State.

It is also reported that there are more turn-out of people queuing up for accreditation and voting.

DELTA:

The turn-out of registered voters in Delta state is impressive as accreditation started as at 8:00 am. At Uzoigwe Primary School, Asaba, the state capital. A number of persons have been accredited waiting to vote as from 12 noon at the various polling stations visited.

Uniformed policemen had mounted check points at strategic places to curb unusual movement of persons and vehicles.

At Ugborikoko, in Warri, the situation today, has become tense as security operatives have taken over the place following, Friday’s near attack on Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and his campaign train when some youths denied him entrance into the area suspected to be a stronghold of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP).

Uduaghan was on a consultative visit to elders in the area when the crisis erupted. The chaos later resulted in the destruction of over 12 vehicles and scores of persons were reportedly injured at about 11:00 pm on Friday.

Reports also have it that Governor Uduaghan has been accredited at his home town, Abigborodo in Warri North local government area.