Wednesday, March 1, 2023 Edition

Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Bauchi State Collation

for the Presidential Election, Prof. Abdulkarim Sabo Mohammed and Resident Electoral

of Bauchi State, Mohammed Bulama Nura, during the presentation of 2023

election result, at National collation centre, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

International observers want INEC to address irregularities before guber polls

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

Worried by irregularities recorded in the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday, international observation mission of the International Republic Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) have called on INEC to address the short comings recorded before gubernatorial and State Assembly elections.

The observers led by Dr. Joyce Banda, former President of the Republic of Malawi, gave the recommendation in their preliminary statement on Monday in Abuja.

They expressed concern with the ability of INEC to provide accurate disaggregated PVC collection figures.

“PVC collection data by polling unit was posted online late on election day, despite repeated promises to publish the data before the election, and observers noted that this figure was largely unavailable at polling units, making calculations based on these figures difficult to verify.

“In the spirit of international cooperation, the IRI/NDI

delegation offers the following 27 practical recommendations to build confidence in the upcoming polls in the short-term - ahead of the March gubernatorial and state elections - and to enhance transparent, credible and inclusive electoral processes in the longterm. These recommendations are made in good faith to mitigate the potential for voter disenfranchisement, protect Nigeria’s democracy, and support and amplify the voices of Nigerian citizens as they work to deepen and strengthen their democratic institutions and practices.

“INEC should develop realistic timelines and an operational framework that ensure timely opening of polling stations and even distribution of materials across polling units, targeting specific resources to areas with historic patterns of delayed openings.

“INEC should distribute voters more equitably among polling units and consider adjusting the number of poll workers assigned to each polling unit based on registered voters to reduce the time spent waiting in queues and completing ballot sorting and counting processes. Poll workers

should receive better and recurrent training to ensure that the election procedures are evenly applied across the country, including use of the BVAS.

“INEC should engage in proactive, regular and transparent communications and outreach to the Nigerian public and relevant stakeholders related to electoral developments, electoral delays, cancellations, etc, and make such information immediately available on its website.

“INEC should consider redesigning the voting cubicle to guarantee ballot secrecy and enhance accessibility to PWDs.

Lawmakers and INEC should work together to ensure contingency funding that can inoculate against economic and other unanticipated crises.

“INEC should ensure results images are uploaded to its IReV portal immediately as they are received, and provide complete and timely polling unit level results on the IReV portal in a machineanalyzable and bulk format (such as a CSV file), as well as the local government area (LGA) and state results forms.”

The international observers also called on INEC to address

network connectivity limitations to ensure that all results can be electronically transmitted from the BVAS at the polling unit level, and should conduct national stress tests to better anticipate and address challenges that could occur on election day.

The statement also urged INEC to post polling unit level PVC data well before elections and in an open data format, to ensure transparency on information necessary to verify turnout and reruns in cases of cancellation.

“INEC should take measures to reduce the burden on voters to register and collect their PVC, including extending timelines, increasing the number of distribution centers, employing mobile units, and targeting outreach to marginalized groups and voters with limited mobility.

“INEC should conduct a thorough and transparent audit of the voters roll, ensuring that there are not multiple and double registrants or underage and deceased persons on the roll.”

The observers also called on the National Assembly to prioritize passage of the bill that would establish the Electoral burden on INEC to prosecute offenders.

presidential

Gov. Bello orders Katcha LG Chairman to vacate office

Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar

Isyaku to vacate the office of the Chairman, Katcha Local Government Area of the State with immediate effect.

A statement issued by Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Ahmed Ibrahim Matane explained that Government inadvertently sworn in Musa Isyaku.

It stated that the swearing in was done without taking into consideration the right of appeal provided under

Sections 26, 27 and 28 of the Local Government (Council Elections) Law 2003 and Section 138 of the Electoral Act 2022.

Matane noted that Musa Isyaku was sworn in without a Certificate of Return issued by Niger State Independent Electoral Commission

(NSIEC) contrary to the Judgement of the Court”.

Matane revealed that Governor Sani Bello has ordered Hon. Abdullahi Danlami Saku to continue to be in office as Chairman of Katcha Local Government Area pending the determination of the Appeal.

From Yakubu Mustapha Minna

Sani Bello has ordered Musa

Aggrieved women of protesting on the result of the

election at National Collation demanding for restoration of iReV, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

From Abubakar Y Ojimaojo

Elite pro-democracy think tank, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has rated the conduct of the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections with a conclusion that the process was affected by several loopholes.

The non-governmental organisation hinged its position on data based on data received from its 4900 field observers deployed across the country, the

Court remands journalist for allegedly blackmailing Bauchi governor

From Ahmed Mohammed, Bauchi

A32-year-old Journalist Haruna Mohammed Salisu has been remanded in Correctional Center by the Chief Magistrate’s Court, Ahmed Musa, in Bauchi State.

Haruna was alleged to have incited disturbance of public peace and blackmailing the incumbent Governor of the State Senator Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir.

The State Commissioner of Police is prosecuting Haruna, the publisher of Wikki Times, over the allegation of hired some women to incite disturbance by instigating them to make utterances that will prejudice the peace and well being of the intended voters at the polling unit in Duguri ward of Alkaleri LGA, and it also blackmail the incumbent Governor in his ward contrary to section 114 of the Penal Code.

Following the non guilty plea by the accused, his counsel, S. G Idrees , applied for his bail.

Counsel from the office of the State Anthony General Haruna Mohammed, announced appearance from the Ministry of Justice and announced that the Attorney-General will like to take over the case from the Police and continue with the case as contained in the 1999 constitution.

The matter was adjourned to continue Wednesday 1st March 2023, for ruling on the bail application.

Bauchi State Police Command has confirmed the arrest and detention of Haruna Mohammed, Publisher of Wikki Times, an online newspaper. On Saturday, policemen from Duguri…

Bauchi State Police Command had earlier confirmed the arrest and detention of Haruna Mohammed, Publisher of Wikki Times, an online newspaper.

On Saturday, policemen

INEC poor communication on IRev, voter intimidation, others marred polls —CDD

Centre identified operational issues, poor communication by INEC, violence, voter intimidation and vote buying as some of the anomalies, which undermined the process.

CDD made the observation in its post-election report, signed by its Director, Idayat Hassan, warning that on the basis of the loopholes, which characterised the process, there could be a wave of litigations after the declaration of the results.

The report read: “Nigeria is likely to see another wave of electoral litigation in its courts that will likely reverse some electoral outcomes and perhaps even impact on governance in the short-term.”

Although the group applauded the fact that the election was not postponed like the past three elections, which have all been delayed, it however decried late arrival of INEC officials to polling units as well as challenges with bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS).

CDD insisted that some voters voted in contravention of the legal framework, which requires that all voters must be authenticated by BVAS in order to vote.

The report noted that “Although less pronounced elsewhere in the country 8.7% of observers witnessed this taking place in south-south, 5.9% in southwest, 9.6% in the northeast, 4.2% in the southeast and 7.7% in the north-central zone. Technical issues were also noted by our observers, with 23.1% having witnessed issues of BVAS malfunction.

“This was particularly acute in the northeast, with 42.7% of observers recording a malfunction, but was also high in the northwest (28.7%).

Consequently, the Centre flayed INEC for the poor handling of the Result Viewing Portal (IReV), which it stressed was designed to provide real-time transmission of election results (Form EC 8A) from polling units to the central collation centre.

“The group further stressed that the IReV was an attempt to enhance the transparency of the process, and reduce the incidence of vote rigging. The group said as of 9pm on election day, there were no results uploaded to the platform for the presidential results, adding that at 11:00 on Monday 27 February only 53,154 polling unit results out of a total of 176,734 were publicly available on the platform”.

CDD further noted that, “The fact that some Senatorial and Federal House of Representatives elections were uploaded also fueled rumours of vote manipulation. Despite optimism from both INEC and citizens that technology could be a game changer in Nigeria’s elections, the way the technology was deployed during results transmission in particular has arguably weakened the public perception of transparency and accountability, rather than strengthened it.”

Nonetheless, CDD applauded the turnout of Nigerians,

especially the youth despite well-documented instances of insecurity in all six geopolitical zones, and the fuel and currency scarcity that threatened to derail the electoral process. It however noted that the election suggested that ethnic identity remains an important factor shaping voter preference, with the youth not a monolithic block.

The report further noted that while vote buying has reduced, the incidents of voter inducements remained in the election.

“This election also saw an increased use of basic foodstuffs, household goods and materials being exchanged for votes, with observers in states such as Kwara, Imo and Bayelsa all reporting numerous incidents.

In Lagos, there was even evidence of politicians willing to provide bank transfers to voters under the guise of “business assistance schemes”, ostensibly a creative way to buy voters given the limitations on the availability of cash,” the report noted.

Former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, Former Ghanian president, John Mahama and others, visit the Presidential Candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at his Asokoro resident, yesterday in Abuja.

Varsity launches business incubation centre to address challenges

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

The African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja has launched a business incubation centre; AUSTInspire Business Incubation Centre.

The centre is meant to encourage innovation in the university and the global society.

Speaking, the Acting President of the University, Prof Azikiwe Onwualu, who unveiled the hub, said the centre would enable staff and students of the institution to translate their researches into problem-solving products and services that benefits society.

“We have decided to take a step about taking our researches to the next level, bringing it to reality.

“We have excelled in the aspect of research and publications but we have told ourselves the truth, the researches and publications must translate into something tangible.

“Very soon, you will not only see our publications but also our products from the researches.” Similarly, Chief Executive Officer of CcHUB - managers of the Centre, Bosun Tijani, said the mission of the incubation centre was to leverage on science and technology to bring about

prosperity to the people.

“We are looking at innovations that solve real problems not just in Nigeria but also in Africa.”

On his part, Jude Adejunwon, the Practice Lead of Higher Education Initiative, CcHUB, said Africa can not enter prosperity until her universities sit up.

“They should start looking at our problems and start designing ways to solve them. People think the university’s role is just to train students and release them into the labour market but that is not true.

“It is only through a hub like this that we can move research to help people on the ground,” he

said.

On his part, Dr Vitalis Anye, Head of Material Engineering Department and the Project Coordinator for AUSTInspire Business Incubation Center said, “We want to translate research in to tangible products and services. We want to move from research to the market. We can also innovate around processes, business and technology.

He identified funding as one of the major challenges but said they are discussing with investors to fund various projects.

He added that local materials will be used to solve African problems.

Ireti Kingibe of LP rejects cancellation of some senatorial results in FCT

The FCT Senatorial Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Hajia Ireti Kingibe, on Monday rejected the cancellation of the Bwari Area Council election results.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had canceled the senatorial results for Abaji and Bwari due to over voting.

Kingibe, while addressing Journalists in Abuja said that there was no over voting in Bwari Area Council, therefore, the cancellation was uncalled for.

According to her, a mistake in the tabulation of results should not affect the victory of a candidate.

She said she was told that the person that wrote the figure made a mistake whether knowingly or unknowingly, “and the person put two plus two equals to five”.

She added that the official now referred to the mistake as over voting.

She said that the Electoral Officer (EO) said it was an error from the person that wrote the results “whether he did it on purpose or accidentally, was not clear”.

“All the results sheets show there was no over voting in any of the polling units. So, why cancel the result of the entire area council? We have watched them.

“They have been looking for a reason to cancel all our strongholds and suddenly, they found an error and that can’t stand.

“They said it is not their job to look at the results sheets on over voting. We have had enough.

“They said we should go to the polls, they want to impose people on us, it will not work. The way this country is going, we’ve had enough.”

Earlier, Ireti had called on her supporters to keep calm over the delay in the announcement of election results, saying “the margin is too high for manipulation”.

Ireti said the delay in the announcement of the FCT Senatorial election was as a result of violence recorded during the election. (NAN)

Elections: Do not ignore concerns of Nigerians, Ortom tells INEC

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, not to ignore the concerns of Nigerians, many of whom have questioned the credibility of the Presidential/National Asssembly elections and take

steps to save the country from crisis.

Governor Ortom gave this advice yesterday in a press statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Terver Akase.

The Governor noted that a number of violations of the Electoral Act were witnessed in the conduct of last Saturday’s

election, averring that his team is assessing the situation and would make his position known soon.

He appreciated Benue people across party lines for the peaceful conduct of the February 25, 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

Ortom said despite the pre-

election apprehensions, voters in the 23 local government areas of the state went out to exercise their civic responsibility and no major breach of peace was recorded in any part of the state. He commended the resilience of those who were able to vote during the elections despite the current economic situation in the country.

AfDB, others deliberate on food security measures in Africal

The Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA), in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Wangari Mathai Institute, have reiterated the importance of improving food security in Africa.

Prof. Patrick Verkooijen, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GCA, in a statement issued on the AfDB website, called for urgent financial support to put Africa on the path of food sovereignty.

Verkooijen spoke at a threeday regional forum on the future of resilient food systems in Africa organised by the GCA and AfDB.

The forum urged the Future of Resilient Food Systems in Africa – AAAP Digital Solutions for a Changing Climate provided through training for stakeholders across Eastern Africa.

The training strengthened their capacity to design and implement solutions to improve

food security and climate resilience.

It was also meant to facilitate knowledge sharing among farmers on scaling up the use of Digital Climate-informed Advisory Services (DCAS).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that DCAS are tools and platforms that integrate climate information into agricultural decisionmaking.

Globally, more than 300 million small-scale farmers have limited or no access to DCAS because service provision is still fragmented, unsustainable beyond project cycles, and not reaching the last mile.

According to Verkooijen, Africa needs urgent support to scale up the implementation of adaptation solutions.

“Through the African Adaptation Acceleration Programme (AAAP), we are rolling out a 350 million dollar project to build resilience for food and nutrition security in

the horn of Africa.

“This is toward mobilising new digital climate technology for market information, insurance products, and financial services that can and must be tailored to smallholder farmers’ needs,” he said.

The AfDB’s East Africa Regional Director-General, Nnenna Nwabufo, represented by Dr Pascal Sanginga, the Regional Sector Manager for Agriculture and AgroIndustries, said the forum was timely.

“The AAAP is already contributing to closing Africa’s adaptation gap by supporting African countries to make a transformational shift in their development pathways.

“It is putting climate adaptation and resilience at the centre of their policies, programmes, and institutions.

“There is no doubt that AAAP will be a strong component of the country’s Food and Agricultural Delivery Compacts.

“As it will accelerate the transformation of Africa’s food systems and build a more resilient Africa,” Nwabufo said.

Prof. Stephen Gitahi, Vice Chancellor of the University of Nairobi, said 70 per cent of the population in Eastern Africa live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Gitahi encouraged the trainers to simplify the modules to remove the fear of technology and accelerate adaptation for rural farmers.

“We acknowledge that gaps exist on climate adaptation in the rural communities, and those can be smartly bridged with the use of digital smart agriculture and climate innovations,” he said.

The forum brought together stakeholders and participants from Djibouti, Eritrea, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Mauritius, Tanzania, Seychelles, Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Kenya.

(NAN)

Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation FMSTI, Mrs. Monilola Udoh (middle) Director, Environmental Science Technology Department Dr. Peter Ekweozor (2nd left) Director, Human Resource Management (HRM) FMSTI, Mrs. Aileru Abosede Jumoke (left) Head, Solution Business Solidwork Technology, Mr. Clement Nnedu (2nd right) and other at the Training Workshop on the Implementation of the National Policy on Methanol Fuel Production Technology Strategy using Dassaults Systems Solidworks Technology yesterday in Abuja.. Photo-: Justin Imo-owo

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

Three Political parties -the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Labour Party (LP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC)- have jointly called for the immediate cancelation of the presidential election held on Saturday, February 25, nationwide.

They maintained that the results of the election have been heavily manipulated and doctored.

At a press conference jointly addressed by the Chairmen of the three opposition parties, Dr Iyorchia Ayu (PDP), Barrister Julius Abure (LP) and Dr Ralph Okey Nwosu (ADC) and their chieftains in Abuja, they also passed a vote of no confidence on the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, with a call on him to step aside.

The parties pushed for a fresh election to be carried out within the window allowed by the Electoral Act and in accordance with the laid down INEC procedure for the conduct of the 2023 Elections.

They called on the international community to note that the results being declared at the National Collation centre, Abuja, have been heavily doctored and manipulated and do not reflect the wishes of Nigerians expressed at the polls on February 25, 2023.

The parties, in their joint position presented by Barrister Abure, the National Chairman of LP, said, “This election is not free and far from being fair or transparent.

“There is ongoing extensive cancellation of results all over the country, especially in the areas of strength of the opposition parties to shore up the numbers of the ruling APC.

“We have, therefore, arrived at the conclusion that the presidential election of Saturday, February 25, 2023 conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been irretrievable compromised and, we have totally lost faith in the entire process.

“The Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party shall not be part of the process currently going on at the National Collation Centre, and we demand that this sham of an election should be immediately cancelled.

“We also call for a fresh election to be carried out within the window allowed by the Electoral Act and in accordance with the laid down INEC procedure for the conduct of

PDP, LP, ADC seek cancellation of presidential election, fresh poll

the 2023 Elections.

“We similarly call on the international community to note that the results being declared at the National Collation centre have been heavily doctored and manipulated and do not reflect the wishes of Nigerians expressed at the polls on February 25, 2023.

“We also wish to declare a vote of no confidence on the INEC Chairman, Professor Yakubu Mahmood. By his conduct and reaction to the complaints of disenfranchised political parties, we believe that he lacks the integrity and moral standing to continue to oversee this process to a conclusion.

“We are therefore calling for Professor Yakubu to step aside from his role as INEC Chairman and for a credible personality from outside the Commission to take his place and see this process to a conclusion that would be acceptable to all stakeholders and would restore the confidence of the international community in our democratic process and

institutions.

“We are, therefore, constrained on this development to state that INEC compromised the integrity of this election even before collation began at the PUs.

“Section 60 sub-section 5 of the Electoral Act states that “the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including total number of accredited voters and the result of the ballot in a manner as prescribed by the commission.”

“It was on the strength of this provision in our Electoral Act that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) introduced the BVAS technology to the country.

“The expectation of the majority of Nigerians was that INEC was going to conduct the 2023 election in compliance with both the Electoral Act and its own guidelines.

“Unfortunately, INEC capitulated on that promise and conducted the election with the usual crude standard that predates the introduction of the BVAS

machine”, they said.

In attendance at the press conference were; Senator Liyel Imhoke, former Governor of Cross River, Hon Emeka Ihedioha, former Governor of Imo state, Dr Okwesilieze Nwode, former Governor of Enugu State, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, founder of DAAR Communication (owner of AIT and Raypower),

Dr Oseluka Obazi, Otunba Dele Momodu, Director of Strategic Communication of Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign organization, Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo, former member, House of Representatives, Senator Dino Melaye, Mr Valentine Ozogbo and Mr Clement Ojukwu, National Organizing Secretary of LP among others.

Call for INEC Chairman’s resignation by PDP, LP misplaced, says Yakubu’s CPS

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has faulted the call by the Labour Party, LP, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP on the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to resign as misplaced.

The Commission has similarly called the allegation by Senator Dino Melaye that the INEC Chairman allocated scores to parties as unfounded and irresponsible.

The Commission said these in a statement yesterday by the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi in Abuja.

The statement declared that contrary to the insinuation by both

parties, results emanating from the States point to a free, fair and credible process.

It explained that there are laid down procedures for aggrieved parties or candidates to follow when they are dissatisfied about the outcome of an election.

Such procedures, the statement said, did not include calling on the INEC Chairman to resign or for the election to be cancelled.

It stressed that aggrieved parties are free to approach the courts to ventilate their concerns and wait for the matter to be resolved.

It pointedly declared that making inciting comments capable of causing violence or unrest is unacceptable.

Stating that the 2023 General election processes are in their final

stages of completion, INEC said it is only fair for aggrieved parties to allow the conclusion of the process and approach the courts with their evidences to pursue their cases.

The statement by Oyekanmi reads, “The call by the Labour Party and the People’s Democratic Democratic Party on the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to resign is misplaced.

“The allegation by Dino Melaye that the INEC Chairman allocated scores to parties is unfounded and irresponsible.

“At the same time, contrary to the insinuation by both parties, results emanating from the States point to a free, fair and credible process.

“There are laid down procedures for aggrieved parties or candidates

INEC declares LP winner in 6 states, APC

By Lateef Ibrahim

Results of the Presidential Election in fifteen states released by the National Collation Centre in Abuja yesterday showed that the Labour Party, LP won in six states, the All Progressives Congress, APC won in four, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, 4 while the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP won in Kano state.

According to the official results, the six states won by the LP include the FCT, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Abia, Bayelsa and Plateau States.

The four states won by the APC were Niger, Benue, Kogi and Zamfara, while the PDP won in Bauchi, Kaduna, Kebbi and Sokoto states.

Details of the results are as follows:

Niger state: APC- 375,183, LP- 80,452, PDP- 284,898, NNPP-21,836.

BENUE STATE: APC- 310,468, LP- 308,372, PDP130,081, NNPP-4740.

FCT: APC- 90902, LP- 281717, PDP- 74194, NNPP4517.

AKWA IBOM STATE: APC- 160620, LP- 132683, PDP214012, NNPP-7796.

EDO STATE: APC- 144,471, LP- 331,163

PDP- 89,585, NNPP-2,743.

ABIA STATE: APC- 8,914, LP- 327,095

PDP- 22,676, NNPP-1239.

KOGI STATE: APC- 240,751, LP- 56,217

PDP- 146,104, NNPP-4238.

BAUCHI STATE: APC- 316,694, LP- 27,373, PDP-

4,

to follow when they are dissatisfied about the outcome of an election.

“Such procedures do not include calling on the INEC Chairman to resign or for the election to be cancelled.

“To be sure, aggrieved parties are free to approach the courts to ventilate their concerns and wait for the matter to be resolved.

“Making inciting comments capable of causing violence or unrest is unacceptable.

“The 2023 General election processes are in their final stages of completion. It is only fair for aggrieved parties to allow the conclusion of the process and approach the courts with their evidences to pursue their cases”, it said.

PDP 4, NNPP 1

429,607, NNPP-72,103.

PLATEAU STATE: APC- 307,195, LP- 466,272, PDP243,808, NNPP-8869. BAYELSA

Governor Okowa Datti

•Claims poll was doctored, manipulated •Calls on INEC Chairman to step aside

APC wins Presidential election in Zamfara

From Ibrahim Sidi Muh’d, Gusau

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has been declared winner of the last weekend Presidential election by the Zamfara State Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) against the other popular candidates in the contest.

Receiving the collated results by the Returning Officers from the fourteen Local Government Councils of the state, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Professor Mahmud Yakubu, declared that the APC has won 298,396 votes out of the total votes cast.

Professor Yakubu who further declared that, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP has scored 193,978 then followed by Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the NNPP has scored scored 4,044 while Peter Obi of Labour Party has 1,660 votes, said the votes were realized out of the 1,879,308 registered and the 527,137 accredited voters in the state.

According to him, 502,923 were recorded as valid votes in the exercise, while 16,508 were rejected and 519,43 votes were the total votes cast being recorded by the Commission for the Presidential election conducted last Saturday in Zamfara State.

Meanwhile, former Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari has been declared the winner of Zamfara West Senatorial having scored 147,346 against Bello Fagon of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)who scored 55,083 votes.

The Collation Officer of the Zamfara West senatorial zone, Professor Rufus Teniola of the Federal University Gusau, declared that, “The APC candidate, Abdulaziz Yari is the winner with the total votes of 147,346 been scored against the other candidates”.

While the candidate of the New Nigerian People’s Party, NNPP scored 363 and Labour Party candidate got 111 votes in the collated results.

Similarly, the Candidate of All Progressive Congress in Anka /Talata Mafara Federal Constituency, Muhammad Isah Anka has been declared as the winner of the contest.

Announcing the result, the

We will defeat the cynicism of those waiting for worst predictions -Gbajabiamila

By Christiana Ekpa

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tuesday disclosed that his Party will defeat the cynicism of those waiting to see their worst predictions for the country to be become real, even as he said Nigeria will be at peace because they will work through the law and due process to resolve differences, settle disputes and ensure the peaceful transition of power.

Gbajabiamila who disclosed this, at the resumption of plenary after 2023 Presidential and National Assembly Elections with 11 members in attendance, said Elections in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-party democracy too often devolve into faultlines, generating abundant conflict and controversy.

He said “Our country has just been through a hotly contested general election. as we gather here this morning, the election results are still being collated and announced. We expect shortly to be informed who will be the next president of our republic and

•says they will settle disputes, ensure peaceful transition of power

the people who will represent Nigerians in the 10th assembly.

“Elections in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-party democracy too often devolve into faultlines, generating abundant conflict and controversy. The test of an advanced democracy is the ability to manage grievances and settle disagreements without causing fatal damage to the body polity.

“The constitution of our republic and the Electoral Act that governs elections in Nigeria both define a framework of postelection dispute resolution and adjudication. This framework exists to protect the integrity of our elections. It ensures that when elections fail to meet expectations, contested issues of facts and law can be resolved through a due process within a legal framework befitting a constitutional democracy. It is not in the interests of our country, now or ever, to advocate for or embrace extralegal interventions to resolve electoral disputes and address grievances.

“We must avoid actions or utterances that set the stage for interventions that could be fatal to our democracy and the gains we have made over the last two decades. This is the time, despite whatever disappointments we may each feel, to reject considerations of partisan and other interests to come together and make sure first that our country survives and our imperfect democracy continues its march towards progress and a more perfect union.

“This is the time for political, social, religious and economic leaders across the nation to work steadfastly together towards the ends of law and due process. I am confident we will rise above the worst expectations others may have of us in this defining this moment. We will resist malign actors seeking to exploit this moment of tension for their own ends.

“We will defeat the cynicism of those waiting to see their worst predictions for our country become real.

Nigeria will be at peace because we will work through the law and due process to resolve differences, settle disputes and ensure the peaceful transition of power.

“In the meantime, the work of governance continues here in the House of Representatives even as we count down to the end of our term in the 9th assembly. We will also begin to prepare transition notes at the Committee levels, as earlier proposed, as part of our reforms to build institutional memory and ensure continuity in governance.

“We will continue reviewing legislative actions, interventions, successes and failures relating to the implementation of the 9th House of Representatives legislative agenda, which we began in January. As I said then, this is the basis of our report card to the Nigerian people at the end of our term. But just as importantly, it will allow us to better understand where we succeeded and where we didn’t as a guide for the future.

NGO screens 80,198 persons for cancers in 6 years

The Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), says it screened 88,198 persons for different types of cancers between 2016 and 2022.

Dr Honestus Obadiora, the Executive Director of LAPO, said this during the organisation’s Annual Media Forum in Benin on Monday.

Obadiora said the screening

was done under the LAPO Community Campaign for Cancer Control (LAPO -C4) programme in selected states of the country.

He said, “between January 2016 and December 2022, LAPO-C4 project created awareness about cancer in target communities and sensitised 3,368,142 community members against cancer” .

“About 86,198 of the

beneficiaries were screened and referred for further screening and treatment in governmentapproved health facilities.”

He attributed the problems militating against cancer control in Nigeria to inadequate awareness and poor access to screening services.

The executive director, however, said that almost 102,000 new cases of cancer occur annually in Nigeria with

more than 60 per cent in women due to breast and cervical cancer.

Obadiora advised women to regularly check their health status as breast and cervical cancers posed a serious threat to their lives.

According to him, with early detection, more than 80 per cent of cancer cases are preventable, while 40 per cent of the disease can be eradicated by lifestyle changes. (NAN)

Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, FMSTI, Mrs. Monilola Udoh (middle) Director, Environmental Science Technology Department, Dr. Peter Ekweozor, Director, Human Resource Management (HRM) FMSTI, Mrs. Aileru Abosede Jumoke and other Participants at the Training Workshop on the Implementation of the National Policy on Methanol Fuel Production Technology Strategy using Dassaults Systems Solidworks Technology in a group Photograph yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-owo

CSO commends military personnel on election duty

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

Aleading civil society organisation, Election Monitoring Coalition (EMC), has commended personnel of the Nigerian military for displaying professionalism during Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.

The group said the conduct of personnel of the Armed forces of Nigeria during the election was commendable.

The Coalition said its men on ground specifically went out to assess the conduct of the AFN on Saturday, and found them to have carried out their responsibilities with high ethical standards.

The group premised its investigations on promises by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen LEO Irabor, that the AFN will not only remain apolitical, but will totally collaborate with the relevant security agencies in ensuring a peaceful election; to assess conduct of the elections in areas with security challenges; and determine the worthiness of insinuations that the military was going to play a biased role.

EMC in a statement issued on Monday by its Director, Monitoring, Bello Yahuza and Director, Politics, Yewande Amusa said reports from different parts of the country indicated that the AFN kept to its promise.

“Generally, observers reported that the security personnel behaved and conducted themselves professionally,” EMC said.

EMC gave kudos to the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen LEO Irabor for building a military force with enviable records, especially in conduct during electioneering period.

The Coalition said that all those who made different insinuations targeted at the top echelon of the Armed forces before the election have now realized their error.

The Coalition further gave kudos to the AFN for peaceful conduct of polls in the North East and South East, saying nobody thought it would have been possible in the two regions.

EMC in the press release urged contestants in the remaining elections to play by the rules and accept the results in the interest of the nation.

2023 Elections: Commonwealth Group preaches against post-election violence

The Commonwealth Observer Group has called on Nigerians to remain peaceful as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) continues the collation and announcement of results of the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

Mr Thabo Mbeki, the Chairperson of the Group and former President of South Africa, made the call in Abuja on Monday while delivering the interim report of the Group.

He noted that the Commonwealth had deployed its observer team to the six geopolitical zones of the country, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Mbeki said that in spite of the largely peaceful elections, the group observed incidences

of election-related violence and insecurity in some states.

“We note incidences of election-related violence and insecurity, some of which regrettably resulted in the loss of life and postponement of elections in some polling units.

“We also observed that these elections took place amidst a Naira demonetisation policy and fuel scarcity.

“This notwithstanding, we observed that Election Day proceeded largely peaceful. The determination, patience and resilience of all those Nigerians who turned out to vote in these elections are to be highly commended,” he said.

Mbeki, however appealed to Nigerians and politicians to ensure peace and calm as INEC continues the collation process.

“As the results process continues, let me reiterate the desire that all Nigerians, especially the candidates who contested the elections, continue to uphold their pre-election commitment to peace.

“The group strongly encourages all Nigerians to exercise patience to allow INEC and its staff across the country to conclude the results process effectively and peacefully,” he said.

He said that notwithstanding the shortcomings observed, the elections were largely peaceful while stressing the need for the collation and announcement of results to be conducted transparently.

“We call on all those with grievances to address disputes through prescribed legal

channels.

“The time now is for restraint and continued patience as we await the final results,” he said.

Mbeki said that the final report, full findings and detailed recommendations would be Submitted to the Commonwealth Secretary-General at the end of the process.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigerians on Feb. 25 trooped to over 176, 606 polling units across the country to vote in the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

INEC is currently collating and announcing state-by-state results as they come in to the collation centre in Abuja for the Presidential election while the National Assembly results are being declared at the state level. (NAN)

Bamidele urges Nigerians to ignore Obasanjo’s call for cancellation of 2023 elections

Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele representing Ekiti Central District has urged Nigerians to ignore what he described as the ill-motivated advice by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the ongoing 2023 general elections.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Legal Matters and Human Rights made the call in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.

The former president had, on Monday in a letter to the chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, called for the halting of the collation of the results of the presidential election and cancellation of the entire electoral exercise.

Bamidele, however, expressed concern that Obasanjo’s claims were spurious, flimsy and unjustifiable to cancel a general election where huge financial and human resources had been committed.

The senator said Obasanjo’s position was a deliberate attempt to truncate Nigeria’s democracy and open invitation to anarchy.

“It is a devious assault on the collective civility and sensibility of the people of Nigeria who came out enmasse to exercise their franchise in fulfillment of their civic responsibilities on Feb. 25.

“It is also an utter disrespect to the democratic world and the delegation of international observers who monitored the election with keen interest and adjudged it as a free, fair and credible process,” he said.

Bamidele described the

entire process so far as an improvement on the previous elections in the country.

The Chairman, Southern Senators’ Forum, also said ‘’Obasanjo’s unsolicited reactionary posturing on the just-concluded presidential election is characteristic of his anti-democratic and subversive tendencies which he had displayed on several occasions over the years.

“This is the same Obasanjo who publicly adopted Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party and urged Nigerians to vote for him. Unfortunately, Peter Obi lost woefully in the polling unit right in front of his (Obasanjo’s) house in Abeokuta. Apparently.

“Obasanjo is jittery because of the outcome of the election which invariably may not be in favour of his adopted candidate. He is a bad loser ”

Bamidele said that it was ridiculous and highly disheartening for Obasanjo to utterly question the credibility of an election where many sitting governors, senators and members of the House of Representatives failed to win their National Assembly elections.

He said in addition to this was the inability of the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Bola Tinubu to win in Lagos State, an outcome he said he had accepted in good faith.

He added that Obasanjo as incumbent President of Nigeria was alleged to have massively rigged the 2003 general elections for his party, the People’s Democratic Party

(PDP) and perpetrated the same executive lawlessness in 2007 when he foisted late Umar Yar’adua on Nigerians, following his failed third term agenda.

He said, ” how could a former president call for cancellation of the election where the APC failed to win in Lagos State, an election where President Muhammadu Buhari lost Katsina State to PDP, an election where the DirectorGeneral of APC Presidential Campaign Council?

“Gov. Simon Lanlong lost in his state, an election in which the Governor of Kano State, Umar Ganduje and the Governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade failed to deliver respectively for their political parties, as not free and fair elections.

” We are all living witnesses of what transpired during Obasanjo’s tenure when he said “election is a do.or die affair”, in which many results were announced when people were still voting.

” I pray that Nigeria will not again witness such dark days of Obasanjo when his own anointed candidate, Umar Musa Yara’dua himself admitted that the election that brought him to power was not free, fair and credible.

“It is obvious that Obasanjo is pained that he is unable to install his own candidate with the outcome of the election and that is the reason for his emergency televised address in Abeokuta, Ogun State.”

Bamidele pointed out that the credibility of the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections is unprecedented in the political

history of Nigeria, such that it is largely devoid of financial inducement and electoral malpractices.

He said that the pockets of violence and irregularities that trailed the process in some parts of the country were not enough reasons for anybody to call for cancellation.

He called on all wellmeaning Nigerians and lovers of democracy not to keep silent in the face of Obasanjo’s onslaught, urging them to rise up to defend the sanctity of Nigeria’s fledgling democracy and the constitutionality of the just-concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections.

He added that Nigerians must condemn the unjust, undignified, undemocratic and unpopular interjection of Obasanjo in the ongoing electoral process.

He also enjoined Nigerian youths to totally ignore Obasanjo and his cohorts who are making devious and desperate moves to plunge the entire nation into another season of civil unrest and political instability.

He urged them not to be swayed into any action capable of derailing the nation’s, saying they should rather question the credibility and ulterior motives of the anti-democratic forces calling for the election cancellation.

Bamidele urged INEC to proceed with the collation and declaration of results and ensure that the winner of the 2023 presidential election is announced without any delay for Nigeria to move forward as a democratic nation.

(NAN)

Nigerian Diasporas promise to pursue election voting

Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation – Americas (NIDOA) has promised to continue its cause for Diaspora voting, to achieve desired goals in future elections.

Mr Obed Monago, a former Chair of NIDOA, said this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday.

He spoke on the sidelines of the ongoing Presidential and National Assembly elections in the country.

”About diaspora voting, it is quite unfortunate that the Federal Government did not deem it fit to pass it into law, even after it went for the second reading.

“Eventually, it was voted down, so it is really quite unfortunate that government did not put into consideration the contribution and the impact of the Diasporas to the socio-economic wellbeing of Nigeria.

“The thinking is basically not welcome, but we are not relenting; we are going to take up the fight this time.

“It is going to be more organised and we are going to take it up with the incoming National Assembly too, hopefully this time we are going to prevail.

“Hopefully, during the next electoral cycle, four years from now, we will be voting.”

He said 100 members of the organisation were duly registered to carry out election observation in the country, but were not accredited early.

He said that the organisation designated its delegates to achieve targets more effectively in the election season.

According to him, NIDO’s delegate accreditation was late, but we will try to manage the circumstances to the best of our abilities.

“We are going to do that individually; people are going to submit observations and then, we will compile it.

“I have been following everything that is happening in Nigeria; President Muhammadu Buhari has said it wisely, vote for your candidate of choice and vote your conscience even as a party loyalist campaigning with Mr Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of his party.

“So, that is very nice of him to have said that with respect to promoting free, fair and credible elections and against vote buying everywhere.

The former NIDOA boss

INEC declares Abia South NASS election inconclusive

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Saturday’s National Assembly elections in Abia South inconclusive.

The Returning Officer for Abia South National Assembly elections, Prof. Georgina Ugwuanyi, announced this on

Tuesday, while addressing the party agents at the collation centre in Aba.

Ugwuanyi said that there was a substantial number of polling units, totalling 108 which had issues requiring a rescheduled election.

She, however, announced the available result of the

elections without declaring the winners.

According to her, the results of the elections showed that Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe of APGA scored 49,693.

She further announced that LP’s Chinedu Onyeizu scored 43,903, while Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu scored 28,422 votes.

For Aba South and North Federal Constituency, she said that the LP’s Emeka Nnamani polled 35,502.

She said that Alex Ikwecheghi of APGA polled 22,465 votes, while the incumbent Rep. Chimaobi Ebisike of PDP scored 13,388 votes. (NAN)

NNPP faithful decry distorted party logo on ballot paper

The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) faithful in Cross River have raised concerns over the distortion of the party’s logo on the ballot paper.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Presidential and National Assembly elections was largely peaceful in Ogoja Local Government Area of Cross River on Saturday.

However, a cross section of NNPP party faithful who spoke with NAN after the elections, noted that there were some discrepancies in the party logo on the ballot paper which made it difficult for to cast their vote rightly.

Wilfred Bonse, the NNPP Gubernatorial candidate for Cross River noted that the logo was completely defaced, adding that the experience was quite horrendous

“Very unfortunately, the NNPP was not represented on the ballot papers as should have been.

“I struggled very hard to even recognise as a candidate of the party at the level of the gubernatorial position to recognise the logo of the NNPP.

“The NNPP logo is a basket of fruits, but I unfortunately found a mixed coloured basket not of fruits but probably something that looked like one or two yams without even NNPP written under.

“That’s a fiasco, total fiasco. Even when some of our candidates and agents were trying to capture it on picture and videos as evidence, they were attacked.

“So, this is a very big gang up and conspiracy if you like against the NNPP. The other parties have their logos clearly stated.

“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for instance had the umbrella well captured, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and even the Labour Party (LP).

“I struggled very hard to find ours and bearing in mind that one is not supposed to start teaching people on the election ground how to locate your logo.

“So, the experience we had today was quite horrendous,” he said.

Bonse urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to come clean, adding that the situation was not acceptable by NNPP.

He stressed that the issue would be addressed at the highest level.

“Every party has a logo wherewith it has educated its followers and those logos must be spelt and clearly stated as it is in every representation.

“We will take this up at the highest level for sure.

“This is not acceptable and some of the videos which have gone viral were being attacked, particularly our senatorial candidate, Carolyn Williams for attempting to take photos of the ballot papers.

“Her phone was being confiscated when she also tried to do a video of what the NNPP logo on the ballot paper looked like.

“So, this anomaly has to be corrected as soon as possible because the elections must be seen to be free and fair,” he said.

Carolyn Williams, Cross River North Senatorial Candidate of the NNPP said there was an intentional attempt to sabotage the effort of the party by INEC and some unscrupulous agents.

“I think we were sabotaged because firstly, my party logo didn’t even look like my party logo.

“Then when you go to the House of Representatives and Presidential elections, the party logo was totally different.

“It had stars on it, a complete contrast to our party’s authentic logo which has a fruit basket.

“So, alot of our supporters and voters were confused because they couldn’t recognise the party logo and it brought alot of chaos and instability in the voting process,” she said.

Williams also revealed that

were pockets of violence in some wards and some irregularities recorded.

“We had some issues in West ward I and West ward II where our party agents took off due to fear of the All Progressives Congress (APC) boys.

“So, there were no other agents but only the APC boys there and even when I got there I was attacked and had to quickly leave.

“Even the INEC officials and presiding officers wouldn’t let me take evidences of the ballot papers.

“In West ward I, we had issues where the voters couldn’t recognise the party logo and some of them got confused and started voting for the likes of PDP when they couldn’t find the NNPP logo.

“So, I don’t think this election was free and fair. I feel NNPP was sabotaged and therefore this election should have a re-run as far as I am concerned,” she said.

Simon Akpa, INEC, Assistant Electoral Officer for Ogoja told NAN that he was not aware of the issue as it had not been formally reported to INEC as of today (Monday).

Akpa, however, said that if the report was true and what was obtainable not just in Ogoja but also in other parts of the country, then the party had the constitutional

L-R: INEC National Commissioners, Ukeagu Kenneth Nnamdi, Mrs. May Agbamuchi-Mbu, Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, National Commissioners, Major Gen. A.B. Alkali, Barr. Festus Keyamo and others, during the presentation of 2023 Presidential election result, at National collation centre, yesterday in Abuja.Photo: Mahmud Isa

APC victory journey to liberating Benue, says Alia

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Benue state Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia has stressed that victory of the party in the Presidential and National Assembly election is start of a journey to liberating the State.

He noted that APC won the Presidential election, two (2) Senatorial seats as well as 10

Niger Gov. Sani 313 wins Niger North, East Senatorial seat

From Yakubu Mustapha Minna

Niger state Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello of the All Progressive Congress has been declared the winner of the Niger North Senatorial District.

He scored 100,197 votes against the PDP and NNPP candidates who scored eightyeight thousand,one hundred and fifty-three and thirteen thousand,eight hundred and eighty-six votes respectively.

Result of the Niger North Senatorial District was declared by the returning officer,Kolo Zacchaeus.

Similarly, senator representing Niger East Senatorial district, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa of the APC have been reelected for the second term.

His closed rivalries from the PDP got 125,292 votes and the Labor Party got 35,941 votes as announced by the returning officer professor Tsado Mohammed Shaba at the College of Education Minna.

House of Representatives seats. In a press statement signed by his Media Director, Tersoo Kula and made available to Peoples Daily on Tuesday, Fr. Alia who dedicated the victory to the suffering Benue people, said

the journey to the restoration of the lost glories of the State has started.

While congratulating all the new National Assembly members, the Governorship candidate also, expressed gratitude to the people

of Benue who clearly depicted overwhelming love for the party,

“I appreciate the leader of the party in the state and Minister for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs Sen. George Akume, the state working

committee of the party, the campaign council of the party in the state, major stakeholders at all levels, party faithful and support groups who were the representative of the party in all the polling units of the state.”

Senator Aliero defeats Gov Bagudu in Kebbi

From Ahmed Idris, Birnin

Senator Muhammad Adamu Aliero has been declared winner of Kebbi central senatorial election after

By Mashe Gomna

The Federal Government has called on former President Olusegun Obasanjo not to truncate the 2023 General Elections with his inciting, selfserving and provocative letter on the elections.

A statement in Abuja on Tuesday by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that what the former President cunningly framed as an ‘appeal for caution and rectification’ is nothing but a calculated attempt to undermine the electoral process and a willful incitement to violence.

The statement was signed by Segun Adeyemi, Special Assistant to the President (Media), Office of the Minister of Information and Culture in Abuja.

The Minister expressed shock and disbelief that a former President could throw around unverified claims and amplify wild allegations picked up from the street against the electoral process.

”Though masquerading as an unbiased and concerned elder statesman, former President Obasanjo is in reality a known partisan who is bent on thwarting, by subterfuge, the choice of millions of Nigerian voters,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed recalled that the former President, in his time, organized perhaps the

defeating the incumbent Kebbi State Governor, Senator Atiku Abubakar.

Announcing the results yesterday at the INEC office, the returning officer, Professor Abbas Yusuf said Senator

Adamu Aliero polled total votes of 126,588 to defeated Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu in the senatorial elections. He said Governor Bagudu scored a total of 92,389.

The elections were held in eight local governments of Gwandu, Bunza, Aliero, Maiyama, Koko-Besse, Jega, Kalgo and Birnin Kebbi which constitute Kebbi central senatorial district.

FG to Obasanjo: Don’t truncate electoral process

worst election since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, hence he is the least qualified to advise a President whose determined effort to leave a legacy of free, fair, credible and transparent election is well acknowledged within and outside Nigeria.

”As the whole nation waits with bated breath for the result of last Saturday’s national elections, amid unnecessary tension created by professional complainants and political jesters, what is expected from a self-respecting elder statesman are words and actions that douse tension and serve as a soothing balm.

”Instead, former President Obasanjo used his unsolicited letter to insinuate, or perhaps wish for, an inconclusive election and a descent into anarchy; used his time to cast aspersion on electoral officials who are unable to defend themselves, while surreptitiously seeking to dress his personal choice in the garb of the people’s choice. This is duplicitous,” he said.

The Minister reminded the former President that organizing elections in Nigeria is not a mean feat, considering that the voter population of 93,469,008 in the country is 16,742,916 more than

the total number of registered voters, at 76,726,092, in 14 West African nations put together.

”With a deployment of over 1,265,227 electoral officials, the infusion of technology to enhance the electoral process and the logistical nightmare of sending election materials across our vast country, INEC seems to be availing itself creditably, going by the preliminary reports of the ECOWAS Electoral Observation Mission and the Commonwealth Observer Group, among other groups that observed the election.

”Therefore, those arrogating to themselves the power to cancel an election and unilaterally fix a date for a new one, ostensibly to ameliorate perceived electoral infractions, should please exercise restraint and allow the official electoral body to conclude its duty by announcing the results of the 2023 national elections.

”After that, anyone who is aggrieved must follow the stipulated legal process put in place to adjudicate electoral disputes, instead of threatening fire and conjuring apocalypse,” he said.

Maku wants prompt distribution of election materials to polling units during guber elections

From Gambo Ahmed lafia

Former minister of information

Mr Labaran Maku has appealed to adopt prompt and suitable

means of early distribution of election materials to polling units across the state during gubernatorial elections.

Maku who was reacting in an interview with newsmen expressed

worry over late arrival of election materials in some polling units in Nasarawa Eggon local government council”.

“Nasarawa Eggon local

government council is one of the largest in the Northern Senatorial district but witnessed late arrival of election materials especially in Wakama Ward. I am calling on INEC

to take necessary administrative step towards prompt distribution of election materials to respective polling units across the state”.

Obasanjo

Kebbi

The European Union (EU) Election Observation

Mission in Nigeria on Monday said it observed some short comings in the the just concluded general elections in Nigeria, in spite of INEC’s efforts.

Mr Barry Andrews, Chief Observer of the mission disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of a briefing on the preliminary report of the mission.

“I think it’s important to note that the elections took place as planned on the day that it was planned and there was no postponement, and that is something that had been a feature of previous elections.

“By and large, the election took place in a peaceful environment.

“However, unfortunately, there were expectations regarding the use of the technology that were not met.

“There were shortcomings in relation to planning and training of the individuals at the polling units, which did not meet the standards that INEC has set for itself.

“So to that extent, it was disappointing. But I would say that our observations are consistent across the country.

“The late opening of polling stations, clearly hampered the ability of people to exercise a political right to vote.

“Because they opened so late, it was impossible for many people to stay around and wait until the actual polling units opened.

“So there is definitely room for improvement and unfortunately, a number of improvements that need to be made,” he said.

Andrews said although the mission was not in Nigeria to interfere but observe the elections, it was important

EU election observers highlight areas for improvement

to have peace and credible elections in the country.

“We don’t interfere in any way in the political process. We’re very careful to simply observe from the outside and try to provide some assessments that can be of some use to Nigeria in the future.

“But the one thing we would say, without hesitation is that it is absolutely critical that elections take place in a peaceful environment, and the sentiments that were expressed by the leaders at the peace accord signing last week.

“We would hope that they would be followed through.

“That political participants and particularly political leaders, would make it clear to all actors and that they should respect people’s right to get to the polling units whether in the governorship elections in a second round if one takes place, so that people can exercise their franchise freely and unhindered,” he added.

He urged INEC to improve it’s operational structure so that the sanctity of the process can be protected and credible elections enthroned in the country.

“We would also encourage INEC to improve some of the steps that they’re taking,

particularly for example, the configuration of polling booths, which didn’t allow for secrecy in every instance and that therefore exposed the process to accusation of not been a secret ballot.

“So that was another shortcoming but we absolutely recognise that this election was taking place in a very challenging situation, particularly having regard to cash and fuel shortage,” he said.

“And also the scale of this election is really quite an extraordinary thing with 175,000 polling units 800,000 polling staff, as well as 1.5

million accredited agents of the various parties.

“So overall, the scale of it is a challenge. And while we did note these security issues, by and large, there was a peaceful opportunity for many, many millions of Nigerians to vote,” he said.

The EU envoy also decried the low participation of women in the electoral process while calling for more inclusivity.

He said the mission would still be in Nigeria until after the March 11 governorship elections, when it will come up with a final report. (NAN)

Kogi SDP Reps candidate wants IGP to arrest, prosecute Olamaboro council Chair for electoral offenses

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

The Social Democrats party (SDP) Candidate for House of Representatives for Ankpa, Olamaboro and Omala federal constituency in Kogi State Hon. Ben Adaji has called on the Inspector General of police to urgently arrest and prosecute the Council Chairman of Olamaboro local government area Mr. Friday Adejoh for committing electoral offenses.

Hon. Adaji who made the call while speaking to journalists in Lokoja on Tuesday said Mr. Adejoh along with some policemen drove round polling units in a Sienna Bus in Imane ward one and two shot several guns to despach voters from polling units.

He added that the council Chairman aided by the policemen snatched away several ballot boxes and later returned them to the collation centre in Imane after falsifying the results in favour of APC.

The House of Reps candidate wondered why a council Chairman would turn himself into a warlord and taking the law into his hands.

“I saw the council Chairman, Friday Adejoh along with some policemen and thugs heavily armed with guns and shouting round the polling units in Imane ward one and two. They carted away several ballot boxes to unknown destinations and later returned them to the collation centre after changing the results in favour of APC.

“ In fact this is not the first time Friday Adejoh is doing this, in the 2019 governorship election that brought Yahaya Bello he and his gang of thugs in the same manner at gunpoint drove round Olamaboro local government and snatched ballot boxes.

“I urge the Inspector general of police to as a matter of urgency arrest and prosecute the council Chairman of Olamaboro, Friday Adejoh for committing electoral fraud to serve as deterrent”, Adaji said.

He described the February 25 Presidential and National assembly elections in Ankpa, Olamaboro and Omala as a charade and characterized with rigging, vote buying, falsification of results and snatching of ballot boxes.

He expressed disappointment with the entire exercise which he described as a day light robbery.

Adaji wondered why a serving APC council chairman and his thugs would go about with guns snatching ballot boxes and molesting INEC officials.

The Reps candidate gave an instance where the Chairman and his thugs snatched ballot boxes from Abo-Ojoche and Ebuloko polling units in Imane ward 1 in Olamaboro local government and falsified the results in favour of APC.

According to the candidate, similar electoral fraud was carried out in Omala local government area where APC thugs destroyed ballot boxes in polling units 3, 4 and 8 in Abejukolo ward 2.

He said election was desrupted in Isheke ward while several ballot boxes were snatched by APC thugs in Omala local government area.

Adaji lamented that the election in Ankpa local government was also characterized with falsification of results and snatching of ballot boxes.

According Adaji, results were not transmitted to the INEC server from the polling units as directed by the electoral body.

“All results in the federal constituency were taken to different hideouts with INEC officials at gunpoint and falsified by APC agents.”

He disclosed that he has already submitted a protest letter to the INEC in Lokoja calling for the cancellation of the entire elections in Ankpa, Olamaboro and Omala federal constituency.

“I reject the entire results collated by INEC in the federal constituency and I want a fresh election to be conducted, “ he said.

Need for POS operators to be Christ-like, honest, and diligent

By Isaac Asabor

Every man’s honey is different. What is sweet to your taste but tempts you to overindulge in it? What is your honey?

It is your duty to identify those pleasures that captivate you the most and be temperate with them (I Cor 9:25). What is your honey? Eat only a little.

Have you noticed that not a few POS Operators are relishing in profiteering as they appear to be more obsessed with extorting their customers by charging outlandish commissions on money withdrawn from their bank accounts?

In fact, as the ongoing implementation of the Naira Swap occasioned by the disuse of the N200, N500, and N100 old naira notes across Nigeria continues, POS Operators have been smiling to the banks as they continue to rip off their customers with exorbitant charges on money withdrawn. However, despite the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the continued use of the old N200 notes, and thus the old N200 notes have been coexisting with the new N200 notes, the exploitative situation remains unabated.

At this juncture, it is expedient to clarify that profiteering is a market condition where a seller of a product or service takes advantage of a situation or a person in order to make money. For instance, a landlord might profiteer during a housing shortage by doubling rents. To explanatorily put it, it is when a seller profiteer, he or she does not just profit, but profit more than expected at the expense of someone else. It is expedient in this context to note that anyone that does this “evil” is also called a profiteer. Profiteers famously take advantage of things like scarcity of food or during conflicts to make a lot of money. As explained by lexicographers, the word existed but was not commonly used in English until World War I, when journalists started talking about “war profiteers” who benefited financially from shortages and desperation.

Without any scintilla of hyperbole, it is not an exaggeration to say that while the ongoing cash crunch engendered by Naira Swap looms in the country that POS operators remained busy making

hefty profits by charging more than double the rate of commission that ought to be charged on the withdrawal of cash.

With no standard and the official rate of commission on the amount withdrawn by customers, and lack of any surveillance by the government’s price watchdogs, POS operators are unarguably not showing any remorse or mercy for consumers, who are already groaning under the high cost of living triggered by soaring inflation caused by the maladministration of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) since it came to power since 2015.

Given the foregoing, it is expedient to make reference to Proverbs 25:16 in the bid to urge POS Operators across the country to be moderate in their bid for profit-making as the payment system in Nigeria is about to become cashless.

The foregoing scripture says, “Hast thou found honey? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it”.

In fact, there is a need for moderation in all things. The reason for the foregoing admonition cannot be farfetched as the elders say too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Extreme use of anything is abuse. As understood from the foregoing scripture, God and Solomon want us to maximize the use of things in life by not overusing any of them. This is an important rule of wisdom and success for anyone’s life, particularly POS operators in this context.

Why it is salient for everyone to be bringing the lesson that is inherent in the scripture is that God created honey as a sweet gift for taste, and it is good for the body. Yet too much can overwhelm anyone’s senses and make him or her sick. Thus, when someone finds something pleasant, it is expedient for him or her to use it prudently for its intended purpose, lest it be a snare to the soul, or such a person ends up hating it.

Every man’s honey is different. What is sweet to your taste but tempts you to overindulge in it? What is your honey? It is your duty to identify those pleasures that captivate you the most and be temperate with them (I Cor 9:25). What is your honey? Eat only a little.

Honey is good and pleasant (Pr 16:24; 24:13). Honey is not

forbidden; it is God’s gift. Be thankful for it. But too much is not good (Pr 25:27). How can something so good make you vomit?

By proving that excess is bad! Excess, which is too much, shows good things have limited uses. Use them until sufficient, to their intended purpose, and not beyond.

God richly gives His children all things to enjoy (I Tim 6:17), but all those things must be used in moderation (Phil 4:5). He is not watching from a distance to see how we treat His gifts, as many imagine. The Lord is at hand. He made man upright and gave him gifts, but he has sought out many inventions (Eccl 7:29). And one such invention is excess!

The wisdom here is mainly moral and spiritual, yet it also contains nutritional advice. Honey and other simple or refined carbohydrates are a principal cause of obesity and other maladies affecting health. When prosperity supplies an endless variety and amount of sugars and carbohydrates, an excessive society can gorge on a diabetic epidemic! The foregoing, proverbially analyzed translates to mean that excessive profit which POS operators have resorted to.

Be that as it may, it is expedient to remind POS Operators, particularly at this critical time that Nigeria’s payment system is transiting to cashless, and thatGod does not measure our faithfulness to him by what is on our bank accounts. What matters is how we answer his call on our lives, how that works out in our vocation, and how, through our work, we glorify Him, serve the common good, and further His kingdom.

The reason for the foregoing cannot be farfetched as God has called us to love our neighbors, and one way we can do that is by doing our jobs well. So no matter what we are called to do, whether working at jobs that create great wealth or not, let us, as the apostle Paul instructs in Colossians 3:23-24, that says, “Whatever you do, whatever kind of work you are doing, work heartily, with all your heart and all the different ways that play out in scripture, with Christ-like character, with honesty, with diligence, with integrity, with humility. So work heartily as for the Lord and not for men.”

Isaac Asabor is a Public Policy Analyst.

Still on the CBN cash swap policy and the gullible Nigeria public

By Gozie Irogboli

It is only a hypocrite that will see the truth and speak otherwise because of personal gain or primordial reasons. It is only a fool that will be deceived by the antics of these unscrupulous self-seeking politicians.

The din generated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) current cash swap policy is yet to settle even after extending the deadline for the exercise by ten days. The country is heated up as some politicians have strangely abandoned their electioneering campaign for advocacy apparently because they have nothing to campaign, having pegged their hopes of winning the election as heretofore on vote-buying which is now threatened by the CBN’s cash swap policy. And strangely too, is the fact that some of the youths who have refused to protest the misrule of the All Progressives Congress (APC) regime in the past eight years are being mobilized to unleash mayhem in the country ostensibly to protest against the paucity of cash in circulation.

And as expected, the CBN’s cash swap policy has attracted comments from many critics across the nation. In particular, I am intrigued by the comments of some of our respected economists, policy analysts and experts most of whom analyzed the situation from the standpoint of short-run economic growth. Our respected economists were mostly concerned about the temporary economic loss that will result from the exercise. Their concern however is germane but it is obvious that they are not looking at the bigger picture. I am not fixated about growth as no development economist should but about development. The GDP growth is not the only indicator of economic progress. The cash swap exercise may affect growth rate now just as it has also reduced inflation rate and the exchange rate but all are temporary unintended consequences of the policy.

We live in an underdeveloped economy. Thus, our concern should primarily be more on development and not on the growth for growth sake. Some argued that the timing of the policy is wrong. And I ask what time is the best time for the exercise? And some posited that the policy is politically motivated. Of course politics and economics are intertwined and it is difficult to divorce one from the other because they are correlated.

When we look at it holistically we will be able to see the bigger picture. Certainly, this is not the issue of growth or static equilibrium analysis. Any one conversant with the Nigerian political economic issues will know that our economic progress and development is inextricably tied to political stability and purposeful leadership that is required to optimally utilize our abundant human and natural resources for the good of all. And this type of leadership can only come through free, fair, transparent and credible election. Monetary inducement has compromised our system and processes, promoted violence, subverted the will of the people, promoted corruption,

created distortions and leakages in the management of our resources and sabotaged the emergence of credible leadership that we crave for in the country.

Indeed, a peep into the annals of our checkered political-cumeconomic history shows that aside from the issues of religion and ethnic sentiment, the singular most debilitating factor in our body politic is poor the electoral system bastardized by money politics which had made it impossible for the practice of true democracy to take root in the country. Nigeria seems to be trapped in a vortex of socio-political instability resulting from faulty electoral systems and processes that produce politicians whose consciences are cauterized by greed.

During elections the politicians use their ill-gotten wealth to perpetuate electoral malfeasance. When they come into power they spend the first one or two years trying to recoup whatever it is they had spent during the election. They give political appointments not on merit or qualification but to compensate their cronies or sponsors to make them recover their “investments” in their election. They do not care about the economy, the needs of the people, the constitution or even their campaign promises. They do not care about ideas or ethics of public service. Again in the final year of their tenure, they devote more time to stockpiling money for election rather than governance with the intention of buying the votes of the citizens whom they have intentionally pauperized. And the vicious circle continues. With the influence of money politics, our unconscionable politicians subvert the will of the people, create voters’ apathy, promote violence and then stymie the growth of political participation and civic responsibility.

Thus, some of us supporting the position of the Federal Government on the cash swap exercise are looking at the long-run effect on our Political Economy. Yes on the short run, we may lose income but we can accommodate that in order to harvest the long run benefit. We can trade off the temporal growth for our long term development and stability that a credible election will usher in, in our country. After all, Economics is the science of trade-offs.

So, it is easy to see why Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor may be reluctant to inject more of the new notes into circulation because he knew exactly what happened to the first tranche that he released. The same politicians who collected the first tranche of the new notes pumped into circulation by the CBN in December through the collusion of the careless and dubious bank managers and stashed them away, waiting for the election day are still the ones blackmailing and intimidating Emefiele because they know he is a cool, levelheaded public officer with high sense of decorum and etiquette. Were it to be the boisterous Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, by now he would have audited the banks and make public the names of those that collected these funds and this needless noise about cash swap would have died down.

Yes, the currency redesign and cash swap policy is politically

motivated and so is the whole hullabaloo surrounding it. How come those who never cared about the masses these past eight years suddenly turn around and become the advocate of the same masses they have pauperized? How come those who have cheered and celebrated Buhari’s failures and pledged to continue with his obnoxious legacies are now at daggers drawn with him? For eight months our university students were at home as a result of ASUU/Federal government dispute but there was no litigation from the governors and no visit to the president, no council of state meeting to resolve the dispute because our politicians have their children abroad. How come these governors-turned activists never bothered about the willful murder of protesting youth at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos? How come these bornagain governors never complained about fuel queues at the filling stations that have lasted for over twenty months now? How come they never cared about the mounting national debt? How come they are now mounting pressure on the Federal government to obey the Supreme Court order when there are many other court judgments that are flouted with impunity..? And the reason is obvious: the cash swap policy will affect their ability to rig the forthcoming election

In another dimension, it would not be difficult to figure out from the cash swap imbroglio the fact that Nigeria is not yet ripe for the cashless policy thing otherwise the paucity of cash in circulation at present would have been the opportunity needed to make the cashless policy go full blast. So it is obvious that some of us who differed on the introduction of the policy of pegging deposit and withdrawal limit in the name of promoting cashless economy based our position on the fact we live in an economy with underdeveloped structures characterized with poor technology and inhibiting socio-cultural environment and not that the cashless economy is not desirable.

Clearly, Nigeria is at the threshold of history. This is the defining moment, the moment of truth to break free from bad governance and usher in a new dawn. The difficulties associated with the cash swap policy may be painful but it is necessary for it is temporal. After the election the issue of cash scarcity will naturally disappear. I earnestly hope Nigerians will make good use of this unique opportunity now that the president has demonstrated his willingness to conduct free, fair and credible election.

It is only a hypocrite that will see the truth and speak otherwise because of personal gain or primordial reasons. It is only a fool that will be deceived by the antics of these unscrupulous self-seeking politicians. It is only a fool that will willingly accept the fifty thousand Naira alleged budget by these unscrupulous politicians to pay each electorate for his vote and then suffer and lament for another eight years. It is only a lazy youth that will allow himself to be used by these do-or-die politicians to perpetrate violence and wanton destruction of public property in the name of protest.

Gozie Irogboli an economist, a novelist and a public policy analyst

COMMENT

2023: Teacher Obasanjo wants to teach us nonsense

By Ismail Omipidan

“ These elections have not lived up to the hopes and expectations of the Nigerian people and the process cannot be considered to have been credible.”

The above quote from Chief EU observer Max van den Berg, in 2007, summed up the outcome of the 2007 presidential election supervised by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the country’s President.

After May 29 of the same year when the beneficiary of that fraudulent election, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, was sworn in, he personally admitted that the process that brought him in was flawed. He promised to reform our electoral process. He lived up to the billing. That was what gave birth to the Uwaisled Electoral Reform Panel. Thankfully, it set the tone for all the revolutionary transformation we all have in our Electoral Act today.

In response to the EU and other International Observers’ positions on the 2007 presidential election, Obasanjo simply said the polls were “not perfect”, and appealed to Nigerians not to lose faith in our democratic process.

Obasanjo went on to accuse “some political leaders” of stirring-up violence and employing thugs to achieve victory, adding that Nigerians had shown faith in the country’s democracy.

If Obasanjo did not cancel an election that was adjudged as fraudulent, an election where Governors were declared winners in Abuja by INEC at the time when collation was still going on in various states, an election where a president-elect was declared at a time when collation had not been completed, an election where opposition could not campaign let alone compete favourably, on what basis will he be calling for the cancellation of a process that is still on, where the presidential candidate of the ruling APC lost to a political featherweight in his state?

The 2007 presidential contest saw one of the opposition presidential candidates being cleared to contest the election barely 48 hours to the contest. Is that a fair contest? Yet, it was not enough to cancel such a contest?

Obasanjo should be reminded that the days where his words were law in the eyes of most Nigerians and the international community are gone for good. Having backed a presidential candidate that has failed to pull through, our former President should

rather than heat up the polity unnecessarily, confine himself to his Ota Farms to lick his wonds.

Going by political events in the country, Obasanjo appears to have lost his political value and relevance.

Before the 2019 presidential election where Obasanjo backed former Vice President Atiku, apart from his failed third term bid, he had always won his political battles.

For instance, since 1999 up until 2019, the only political battle Obasanjo has ever lost was his attempt to seek a third term; otherwise he had successfully prosecuted and won convincingly all political battles, especially presidential contest since 2007 after leaving office. But by 2019, four years after backing Buhari, he lost the 2019 battle as the Atiku he backed for the presidency was defeated by Buhari. Since then, he is yet to recover the grounds he lost politically.

In the buildup to the 2023 contest, he backed Mr. Peter Obi. If Mr. Obi was favoured to win the contest, will Obasanjo call for the cancellation of the election?

Writing a letter has become Obasanjo’s regular pass time. His Monday’s virulent letter to President Muhammadu Buhari and INEC Chairman calling for the cancellation of a process that is still ongoing is not only preposterous but one purely borne out of envy and political desperation.

For the records, this is not the first time Obasanjo would write or criticise Nigeria’s sitting leaders, since he left office first as military Head of State in 1979 and later as a civilian president in 2007. He criticised Alhaji Shehu Shagari, who took over from him. He also criticised Buhari as military Head of State.

Again, when the military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (retd), unleashed his Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) on Nigerians, Obasanjo was up in arms against him and his policies, urging IBB to give SAP a “human face.” When the late General Sani Abacha came on stage and was almost running Nigeria aground, Obasanjo was all out firing from all cylinders.

Unlike IBB, however, Abacha could not tolerate Obasanjo’s criticisms and it did not take long before he was sent to the gulag on the allegations that he was plotting to overthrow the Abacha government. Abacha’s death changed the whole story and Obasanjo regained his freedom and went ahead to win election in 1999 as a democratically-elected president.

After leaving office in 2007, he facilitated the election of late Umaru Yar’Adua. But midway into

the administration, Yar’Adua took ill and a cabal led by his wife took over the affairs of governance. Obasanjo personally undertook a trip to see Yar’Adua on his sick bed in Germany, to ascertain his mental and physical capacity to continue in office.

Convinced his case was beyond redemption, Obasanjo chose the annual Daily Trust Dialogue of January 2010, to advise Yar’Adua to resign.

Eventually, Yar’Adua died later that year, and his second in command, Goodluck Jonathan, stepped in. But in the runup to the 2011 election, there was a groundswell of opposition against Jonathan, especially from the north, as the region insisted that it should be allowed to have a go at the presidency again.

Obasanjo again stepped in and resolved the issue in favour of Jonathan. He rallied support for Jonathan, same way he did for Yar’Adua. In the end, despite the religious and ethnic sentiments played up against Jonathan in the north, Obasanjo assembled his army of supporters in the north to lead Jonathan to victory against Buhari, with a wide margin of over ten thousand votes.

After Jonathan became President, he wrote to him 14 months to the 2015 presidential contest, which was later shifted by six weeks, not to seek a reelection. Jonathan dared him and he lost the contest.

Obasanjo after defeating Buhari in 2003 and assisting two other candidates to defeat him in 2007 and 2011, shifted support for Buhari in the runup to the 2015 contest, where Buhari after three previous failed attempts, emerged victorious.

However, in 2019 too, he wrote to Buhari, warning him not to contemplate seeking a second term. Buhari dared him and Obasanjo’s political ego was roundly deflated. Since then, he has been writing letters to Buhari, all in an attempt to teach us nonsense.

As a former President, rather than teach us nonsense, Obasanjo should encourage his endorsed candidate to imbibe the spirit of conflict resolution, if there is any conflict, arising from this election that is only comparable to 1993 in terms of free, fair and credible, peacefully and in accordance with the Electoral Act and the laws of the land.

Omipidan is a journalist and a Public Affairs analyst writes from Ile Olorisa Compound, Eyindi, Ila Orangun

How can INEC server get hacked to death?

By Micheal A. Adeniyi

The goal of a free, fair and transparent election has been defeated without the iRev, also, if truly every party agents have a result why not compare what is at hand to what is on the server to confirm if truly hacked, or you mean other political parties are not privy of the number of votes they got in the election and that they have no right to object to an inaccurate data?

I have watched what is playing out at the independent electoral commission (INEC) collation secretariat at the ICC carefully and I can say that a process lacking accountability and transparency is a sham. INEC server and iRev is meant to be a verification center for collation of result.

Across the world, there has been reports of cyber crime such as hacking, cyber hijack and there has also been top notch cyber security system as well. Over the weekend has been barrage of accusation and support for BVAS bypass and the many excuse of hack attempt by hackers as the reason why INEC jettison the use of iREv systems, and this is being said to be why iRev cannot be used during the collation of result of the just concluded election by members of the ruling party APC, the APC was a party privy to the arrangement of BVAS and iRev, in fact, it took the party days lecturing people on how BVAS to iRev will be used to verify numbers of voters and even results from polling unit.

Just this morning, I have seen a number of justification by some few Nigerians about how the INEC server was hacked, this politically motivated people are indirectly saying that iRev must not be a requirement when indeed what the online information

collation does is to ensure accountability and accuracy from all polling units across the country. If this excuse stands then what must have happened to the number of servers used by the federal government, has out national ID servers been hacked also.

First of all, INEC got a budget of 305bn and a report of hacking will mean the election cannot stand, because a weak cyber verification process meant information computed on it cannot stand. No political party has its own BVAS nor does any party have INEC unique paper which can be used in fraudulent manner to upload fake result, if that can happen, trust me what happened offline is worse, if parties have INEC log books then they rigged as well. I have seen member of the ruling party say there was attempt to hack INEC server 167 times, my question is, are the hackers successful in hacking it. If yes, anything on iRev becomes a scam, also did political parties say their votes have been tampered with on paper and not uploaded in reel time on INEC server? In such case the reality is checked! Did they have a request for manual cross checking accepted? If NO, something is wrong. INEC as an umpire should be able to do a valid check when collating. This is a standard procedure in computing.

Why did INEC promised a real time reel of results from polling units when it will not have to use the process, why did it take funds to create servers and ensure cyber security, why did it fail to use a process it got funds for or is INEC telling us that it’s IT department lacks the power to provide cyber security. I may not know what definition of hack is, but many of you use a bank account that has never been hacked, and very well, you visually track all your expenditure against your bank balance to confirm if there has been

an unauthorized withdrawal, over charging and all sort. Why is it now that grown up who own a bank apps running on a server believe that INEC server was hackable.

The goal of a free, fair and transparent election has been defeated without the iRev, also, if truly every party agents have a result why not compare what is at hand to what is on the server to confirm if truly hacked, or you mean other political parties are not privy of the number of votes they got in the election and that they have no right to object to an inaccurate data?

There is nothing like INEC server hacked to death, there is nothing like that, the election has not been transparent and cannot be said to be credible, when the perimeter for credibility has been removed, this leaves us with the question; Will the President ensure credibility and accountability or will it throw both under the bus as he winds down his tenure. What was witnessed by political parties in this election can be described as procedural failure which now cast aspersions on the whole process.

Party agents have complained that people are disenfranchised and that some party engaged in a “boost your loss spree” by altering votes in every polling units to shore up with winners, at least. If the INEC server has truly been hacked to death, if truly a system that takes data from BVAS machines only can be said to be hacked, then what happen to manual verification by party agents with records of votes, are they saying some political party have their own BVAS? If that is the case, I call on President Buhari to cancel this election and ensure a more secure process with the iRev server which serve as the only verification platform for the nation.

Micheal A. Adeniyi is a Public Policy Analyst.

From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

Senator Bala Ibn has lost the Kebbi South Senatorial election to candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Garba Musa Maidoki.

Senator Na’Allah loses in Kebbi

Returning Officer, Professor Ibrahim Muhammed said the PDP candidate, polled 75,232

votes to win the election against Na’Allah who polled 70,785 votes.

Na’Allah, a serving senator was bidding for third time but lost with about five thousand

margin to the PDP candidate who contested the senate election for the first time.

Ashiru congratulates people of Kaduna State on peaceful election

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The Kaduna State gubernatorial candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Rt Hon. Isa Mohammed Ashiru has congratulated the people of Kaduna State on the peaceful conduct of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

According to a statement signed by the Deputy Director, Media and Publicity, PDP State Campaign Directorate, Reuben Buhari, Ashiru further congratulated voters on turning out to vote, despite the scarcity of cash, fuel, and other challenges associated with the voting processes, adding that their patriotic sacrifices shows both the quest of people to have more qualified and genuine leaders leading them in 2023, and their faith in the democratic process.

In congratulating the winners of the just concluded elections, Ashiru tasked them to be magnanimous in victory by accepting all theirs now.

He further identified with those who lost, saying that losing an election affords one the experience to try again.

While further analysing the outcome of the elections, Ashiru noted that: “With the Presidential and National Assembly elections concluded, the path has now become clearer for a unified approach toward the gubernatorial elections coming up in two weeks’ time. Now is the time for us all Kaduna State to bury all differences, close ranks, and work together for the success of the PDP and for the benefit of the people of Kaduna State.

“The eight years of the APC has brought so much hardship and bloodletting to Kaduna State. It is now incumbent upon us all, no matter our

differences, to come together and put an end to a government that is replete with a total lack of empathy, insensitive, and the most misplaced elitist approach

to governance that Kaduna has seen. So, I call on all people of Kaduna State to again, reject the APC in the coming gubernatorial and State Assembly elections.

Let us not allow impunity to continue.”

He also called on the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission

(INEC) to critically analyse and note all areas requiring improvement in the just concluded elections, so as to effect improvements in the

Aggrieved women of protesting on the result of the presidential election at National Collation demanding for restoration of iReV, yesterday in Abuja.

Gov. Bello orders Katcha LG Chairman to vacate office

From Yakubu Mustapha Minna

Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has ordered Musa Isyaku to vacate the office of the Chairman, Katcha Local Government Area of the State with immediate effect. A statement issued by

Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Ahmed Ibrahim Matane explained that Government inadvertently sworn in Musa Isyaku.

It stated that the swearing in was done without taking into consideration the right of appeal provided under Sections 26, 27

and 28 of the Local Government (Council Elections) Law 2003 and Section 138 of the Electoral Act 2022.

Matane noted that Musa Isyaku was sworn in without a Certificate of Return issued by Niger State Independent Electoral Commission (NSIEC)

contrary to the Judgement of the Court”.

Matane revealed that Governor Sani Bello has ordered Hon. Abdullahi Danlami Saku to continue to be in office as Chairman of Katcha Local Government Area pending the determination of the Appeal.

NNPP Gwarzo/Kabo Federal Constituency candidate rejects election result

From Mustapha Adamu, Kano

Nasiru Sule Garo, candidate of New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) for Gwarzo/Kabo Federal Constituency in Kano state has rejected the election result announced in favour of his his opponent, Abdullahi Muazu of All Progressives Congress (APC).

Garo was a three-time member of the constituency.

In a press conference in Kano yesterday,

Garo alleged that the election was rigged in connivance with APC, officials of Independent National Electoral and security agents .

According to him, the election was marred by over-voting in favour of Muazu at Garo Polling Unit.

He added that the election officials present at the collation centre insisted that the votes must count even after the NNPP agents protested.

Garo also alleged one of the NNPP agents,

after protesting the result, was arrested and passed night in the hand of security agents, leaving him (Garo) vulnerable to failure at the polling unit.

He emphasized that hos party has physical evidences on how the election was rigged in favour of APC.

“I hereby reject the result because i was voted for by the people. There was collaboration with INEC, Kano state Government and security agencies to rig my election. We have physical evidence of two incidences.

“There was over voting. When my agents insisted that they should not include the polling unit where over voting took place but the APC insisted that the unit should be included.

“The officials collaborated with security agents to arrest my agent and left the polling unit without agent. We had to get him released on bail,” he lamented.

Garo disclosed that he and his party would not let the mandate of people of Gwarzo/Kabo Constituency be stolen as it would be reclaimed in the court of law.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

Vice Presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Labour Party, LP, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa and Hon. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed respectively have called for the cancellation of the last Saturday’s presidential election, describing it as a sham.

Both Okowa and Baba-Ahmed specifically called on the Prof Mahmood Yakubu -led INEC to thread on the path of honor by canceling the election outright and commence the process of a fresh election that will not only be credible but will be seen to be credible by Nigerians.

The Vice Presidential candidates of the PDP and LP made the call at a joint press conference addressed by them on Tuesday in Abuja.

They argued that the last weekend’s election was neither free nor fair but a sham because transmission of the results was not in tandem with the Electoral Act and the INEC guidelines.

“Finally, we call on the commission to thread on the path of honor by canceling the election outright and commence the process of a fresh election that will not only be credible but will be seen to be credible by Nigerians”, they said.

Reading the resolution of the two presidential running mates, PDP’s Okowa said that last weekend’s election was neither

PDP, LP’s Vice Presidential candidates want presidential election cancelled

•Push for fresh poll

free nor fair but a sham because transmission of the results was not in tandem with the Electoral Act and the INEC guidelines.

They stated that INEC, no doubt, is under a statutory obligation to transmit election results electronically in line wilt provisions of section 149 of the Electoral Act 2022 and the 1999 constitution as amended.

According to them, “That paragraph, which deals with the transmission of results at the polling units, is crucial, and it imposes statutory obligations on the part of INEC to upload polling units results on its portal,” they insisted.

They maintained that polling units results are the pyramid upon which other results are built.

The two Vice Presidential candidates said, “Paragraph 38 of INEC Manual 2022 made pursuant to the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended and section 149 of of the Electoral Act 2022 provides that: On completion of all the

Polling Unit voting and results procedures, the Presiding Officer shall:

*Electronically transmit or transfer the result of the Polling Unit, direct to the collation system as prescribed by the Commission.

*Use the BVAS to upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), as prescribed by the Commission.

*Take the BVAS and the original copy of each of the forms in tamper evident envelope to the Registration Area/Ward Collation Officer, in the company of Security Agents. The Polling Agents may accompany the Presiding Officer to the RA/Ward Collation Centre.” It is mandatory and compulsory. INEC has no option.

Continuing, they said, “So, the failure to upload results and follow the procedures set out in paragraph 38 of the manual made pursuant to the Electoral Act 2022, is a fundamental breach that has the potential of rendering the election results that did not

follow those procedures null and void”.

They stressed further that Section 64 (4) (a) and (b) of the Electoral Act, 2022 specifically provide thus: “A collation officer or returning officer at an election shall collate and announce the result of an election subject to his or her verification and confirmation that the -

(a) number of accredited voters stated on the collated result are correct and consistent with the number of accredited voters recorded and transmitted directly from polling units under section 47 (2) of this Act ; and (b) “votes stated on the collated result are correct and consistent with the votes or results recorded and transmitted directly from Polling Units under Section (60) (4) of this Act.

“Consequent on the above Section 60 (4) of the Electoral Act 2022, any result announced by INEC is ultra vires, illegal, and of no consequence unless they are results already transmitted DIRECTLY from the Polling Units. So procedurally, INEC cannot continue to announce results

that are yet to be transmitted as expressly stated in the relevant Sections of the Electoral Act.

“The law is that where the law has set out the procedures to be followed, that procedures and no other must be followed.

“The argument that INEC guidelines have no force of law is idle and wayward arguments. This is not even the question of alterations of the results. It is a question of non-compliance with mandatory statutory provisions.

“The argument that it is only when the Chief Electoral Officer of the Federation announces the winner of the Presidential election that the results can be uploaded on the INE C portal cannot be correct.

“There must be uploading of results at the polling units after the polling officers had announced the winner at the polling units.

“Finally, we call on the commission to thread on the path of honor by canceling the election outright and commence the process of a fresh election that will not only be credible but will be seen to be credible by Nigerians”, they insisted.

CDD decries INEC poor communication on IReV, voter intimidation, others

By Abubakar Ojimaojo

Elite pro-democracy think tank, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has rated the conduct of the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections with a conclusion that the process was affected by several loopholes.

The non-governmental organisation hinged its position on data based on data received from its 4900 field observers deployed across the country, the Centre identified operational issues, poor communication by INEC, violence, voter intimidation and vote buying as some of the anomalies, which undermined the process.

CDD made the observation in its postelection report, signed by its Director, Idayat Hassan, warned that on the basis of the loopholes, which characterised the process, there could be a wave of litigations after the declaration of the results.

The report read: “Nigeria is likely to see another wave of electoral litigation in its courts that will likely reverse some electoral outcomes and perhaps even impact on governance in the short-term.”

Although the group applauded the fact that the election was not postponed like the past three elections, which have all been delayed, it however decried late arrival of INEC officials to polling units as well as challenges with bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS). CDD insisted that some voters voted in contravention of the legal framework, which requires that all voters must be authenticated by BVAS in order to vote.

The report noted that “Although less pronounced elsewhere in the country 8.7% of observers witnessed this taking place in south-south, 5.9% in southwest, 9.6% in the northeast, 4.2% in the southeast and 7.7% in the north-central zone. Technical

issues were also noted by our observers, with 23.1% having witnessed issues of BVAS malfunction.

“This was particularly acute in the northeast, with 42.7% of observers recording a malfunction, but was also high in the northwest (28.7%).

Consequently, the Centre flayed INEC for the poor handling of the Result Viewing Portal (IReV), which it stressed was designed to provide real-time transmission of election results (Form EC 8A) from polling units to the central collation centre.

“The group further stressed that the IReV was an attempt to enhance the transparency of the process, and reduce the incidence of vote rigging. The group said as of 9pm on election day, there were no results uploaded to the platform for the presidential results, adding that at 11:00 on Monday 27 February only 53,154 polling unit results out of a total of 176,734 were publicly available on the

platform”.

CDD further noted that, “The fact that some Senatorial and Federal House of Representatives elections were uploaded also fueled rumours of vote manipulation. Despite optimism from both INEC and citizens that technology could be a game changer in Nigeria’s elections, the way the technology was deployed during results transmission in particular has arguably weakened the public perception of transparency and accountability, rather than strengthened it.”

Nonetheless, CDD applauded the turnout of Nigerians, especially the youth despite well-documented instances of insecurity in all six geopolitical zones, and the fuel and currency scarcity that threatened to derail the electoral process. It however noted that the election suggested that ethnic identity remains an important factor shaping voter preference, with the youth not a monolithic block.

How I reclaimed my ticket for Yobe North Senate seat - Lawan

By Musa Baba Adamu

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan has narrated how he eventually got back his ticket to contest for the Yobe North Senatorial seat after an initial setback.

Lawan on Saturday was re-elected into the Senate for the fifth term by his constituents in Yobe North.

Receiving a well customised Congratulatory card presented by the Senate Press Corps, the Senate President said the people of Yobe North should take credit for the election victory.

Lawan said: “You will recall that when the

crisis about who will run for the Senate seat for Yobe North started, the matter was taken to court.

“At the Federal High Court Damaturu, somebody else was given judgement and immediately, the following morning, I issued a statement signed by me that I accepted the judgement of the Federal High Court Damaturu giving the Senate seat to somebody else and that I was not going to appeal the judgement and I meant it and I didn’t have any doubt about what I was doing.

“I was thoroughly convinced of what I was doing. But the people of Yobe North stood

up in unison and in solidarity. They said that Senate seat for Yobe North is not my personal thing. It is their own.

“So while they respect my opinion and my right to say something that I said before, they wanted an appeal against the judgement.

“The party at the state level, APC, my party, took up the gauntlet. His Excellency, the Governor of Yobe State also took up the gauntlet and the party at the national level the APC headquarters also took up the gauntlet and the party appealed.Of course, they lost at the Appeal Court.

“And at the supreme Court, the judgement

came in our favour. We thank the Almighty God for giving us the judgement because God has plans for all of us and there is a popular adage that “man proposes, God disposes.”

“While I was ready not to contest again because of my decision, God did not see it that way. God look at the hearts of the most ordinary people that I represent.

“These people fasted on their own. The old people. Women, infact I joined in the fast when I saw the youths in the zone started fasting. They fasted for three or four days consecutively just praying to God that we get judgement. And we got it.

By Christiana Ekpa

The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has demanded the immediate cancellation of last Saturday’s general election and told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to announce a new date for fresh elections.

The national chairperson of the NNPP, Rufa’i Alkali, stated this during a press conference in Abuja today.

Alkali claimed the elections were characterised by voter suppression, intimidation, and vote buying.

He said “We are deeply concerned that going by what had happened on election day, the election umpire has taken our country back to pre-2015 era of elections where everything goes, where voters were deliberately and systematically disenfranchised, where ballot box snatching and ballot box stuffing was the norm, where voter suppression was widespread, where violence and vote-buying were the main deciding factors of the outcome of elections, where security agents openly take side with the ruling party and participate actively in rigging elections, and where

PDP, LP vicepresidential candidates demand cancellation of elections

By Christiana Ekpa

The vice-presidential candidates of the Labour Party, LP, and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Datti Baba-Ahmed and Ifeanyi Okowa respectively, have asked the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to cancel the general election.

Baba-Ahmed and Okowa made this demand while addressing a joint press conference at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.

“So the right thing for the INEC chairman to do is to cancel the elections. Unfortunately, he has not come out to tell the world why the results were not uploaded. There is a question mark there. He needs to be truthful,” Okowa said.

Election: Cancel results, announce date for fresh polls – NNPP tells INEC

people who have not participated in an election are declared winners of the election,” he said.

“For instance, in Kano, Ibrahim Shekarau who formally resigned from the NNPP, withdrew from the race, registered with the PDP, conveyed same to the party and to the INEC, is now declared by INEC as the winner of an election under the NNPP. This is the era that Nigeria’s election umpire, INEC, has unfortunately, returned our country to.

“At the NNPP, we wish to draw attention to seven fundamental observations that we believed were deliberately planned between INEC and the ruling

party to compromise the election in favour of the ruling party.

“From the beginning of the 2023 electioneering process, INEC as a commission has been displaying incomprehensible hostility towards the NNPP. From the conduct of our congresses and conventions to the conduct of our primary elections, we suffered unnecessary and unexplainable resistance and outright sabotage from INEC both at the state and national levels.

“The most disturbing one was when INEC shut our party from submitting our candidates onto their server days before the deadline. We had to go to court

and secure judgment to compel INEC to accept our candidates. As if that was not enough, even after the court judgment, INEC went ahead to appeal some of the judgments. And to the best of our knowledge, we are the only political party that INEC has been appealing pre-election cases that we have won in courts.

“The most shameful of all is the refusal of INEC to use the correct and legible logo of our party on the ballot papers. The deliberate use of the illegible logo of our party on the ballot papers of the 2023 general election by INEC is very unfortunate.

“We were shocked on the

election day to discover that INEC has decided to make use of the most blurred image to represent the logo of NNPP. It is even more shocking that the blurred image that INEC has put on the ballot did not include the name of our party.

“Majority of our supporters found it difficult to identify NNPP on the ballot paper. The key representation of the NNPP logo is the basket of fruits. But on the INEC ballot papers, neither the basket nor the fruits can be identified. This did not only confuse our supporters but deliberately disenfranchised them.”

My life, family in danger - Imo Reps member alleges

By Christiana Ekpa

Acurrent member of the House of Representatives from Imo State, Kingsley Uju, has cried out to the Inspector General of Police that his life and that of his family are being threatened by the Imo State Government.

He is alleged that he has been attacked three times until the eve of the election.

He equally demanded

cancellation of the election in his constituency, saying the process was full of irregularities.

The lawmaker representing Ohaji-Egbema, Oguta and Oru West federal constituency, also accused the State government under Senator Hope Uzodinma as being behind attacks threatening his life.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Monday, the lawmaker said elections did not hold in some wards within his

constituency, and so no results should be accepted from the areas.

He also cautioned that the nation’s electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be wary of persons they recruit as Ad hoc staff members during its elections.

Reports were that the lawmakers suffered attacks in his home town, where he luckily escaped alive.

According to him, there had been a a commander of a special team of the Nigeria Police, one inspector Chika Akwabata who was being used by the state government to intimidate his supporters

“”I appeal to the Inspector General of Police to help stop the intimidation of my supporters. I also want the police to investigate who led the operations against me on Friday”, he said.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Protest in support of INEC to continue of the Collation of Presidential Elections result, yesterday in Abuja.

Election result: Labour Party’s Ireti Kingibe wins FCT Senate seat

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Senate seat.

Prof. Sanni Saka of the University, the INEC Returning Officer, announced the result on Tuesday in Abuja.

Saka said that Ireti polled 202,175 votes to emerge, winner, adding that Mr Philip Aduda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 100,544 votes, while Angulu Dobi of the All Progressives Congress (APC)

came third with 78,905 votes.

“I, Prof. Sanni Saka, thereby certify that I am the Returning Officer for the 2023 FCT Senatorial district election held on Feb. 25.

“The election was contested and

the candidates received the votes as announced.

“That Ireti Kingibe, having satisfied the requirement of the law, has been declared the winner,” Saka said.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Mrs Ireti Kingibe of the Labour Party (LP) as the winner

of

Rep. Betara wins reelection to NASS with 71, 427 votes

By Christiana Ekpa

Chairman of House of Representatives Appropriation Committee, Aliyu Muktar Betara has won his reelection for the seat of Biu, Bayo, Kwaya Kusar and Shani Federal Constituency of Borno State.

Betara who is the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) polled a total of 71,427 votes to defeat his closest rival Mohammed Ibrahim Biu of the People Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 15, 514 votes to emerge second.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer for the National Assembly elections in Borno State who announced the results on Monday evening said: “Aliyu Muktar Betara of the All Progressives Congress APC having satisfied the requirements of the law is hereby returned elected.”

Others who participated in the exercise include one Ahmed Jibrin of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) who polled a total of 661 votes to come third.

Coming at a distant Fourth place in the exercise was Sulaiman Salihu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) who scored 574 votes.

The Lawmaker expressed gratitude to his constituents for their unwavering support and encouragement through the years and the fact that they have demonstrated once their commitment to the social contract that has existed between them for ove a decade.

“I want to particularly express my heartfelt gratitude to almighty Allah for making this day possible. This is a journey that commenced some months ago when they pulled together their hard-earned money to get the nomination forms for me and today they have marched that commitment with further action by voting overehelmingly for me to emerge once again.

Kogi:

“As you can see, there’s no excuse or reason to let my people down when I return back to Abuja, because today they kept their promise of returning me and it’s turn to fulfill my own end of the social contract we have entered into.

“I will continue to do my best to represent their interest and put them first in my legislative decisions and activities in the next four years inshallah.

“I also want to thank the leadership of our great party the APC for the continuous support

and encouragement over the years.

I pray for total victory both in the presidential and governorship elections so that together we can provide the quality leadership that Nigerian deserve”, he said.

The current election victory will mark the reelection of Hon. Betara

to the House for a record 5th term in the history of the constituency.

The Lawmaker who currently chairs the House Appropriation Committee is also regarded by observers as one of the front runners for the seat of Speaker of the incoming House in June 2023.

as the

Ex ED Rural Electrification Agency, Ohiare vows to sustain Bello legacies

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Immediate past Executive Director of Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Sanusi Ohiare, has said his mission is to sustain and build on the legacies achieved by the incumbent Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, whom he said has achieved a lot of meaningful development in the history of Kogi.

During his formal declaration of intention to contest the Kogi guber, Ohiare, who resigned his position to contest the governorship election, said given his age, experience and exposure, he is most qualified to succeed Governor Bello.

“Kogi has made tremendous progress under the dexterous leadership of H.E. Yahaya Adoza Bello, who became governor of Kogi at the age of 40, and widely opened the doors for youth and women emancipation in politics and

governance over the last 7 years.

“Under Alhaji Yahaya Bello, Kogi state has inched closer to a more perfect union, given the prevalence of ethnic divides before he assumed office in 2016; which is evidenced in the current dimension of the Kogi race for governorship, where voters are no longer considering your ethnicity or religion, but researching on your person, character, antecedents and capacity to deliver.

“Kogi has also witnessed relative peace, stability and massive infrastructural development in the areas of Education, Health, Roads, Bridges and Power, to mention a few, under our amiable leader, Alhaji Yahaya Bello.

“Therefore, the challenge before us is how to sustain and build on the great works of his Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, and who’s best equipped to succeed him”, he said.

He called on Nigerian youths to

be a generation that reshapes Kogi to compete favourably, through digital innovation, amongst the committee of states in Nigeria.

While charging the youths to rise up and join him in sustaining and build on the legacy of Governor Yahaya Bello in Education, Healthcare, infrastructure and security, he said “Let us create the enabling environment for Kogi to attract huge investments like we did at the Rural Electrification Agency.

“Let us partner with the private sector and welcome them to Kogi, to help us create jobs with better pay for our youths.

Let us make education more affordable and skill acquisition readily available for our youths.

“Let us partner with the Federal Government to build an inland port in Lokoja build rain lines connecting the North, build an airport, rehabilitate more roads and build newer ones, and

effectively, make Kogi the Logistics hub of this nation.

“Let us democratize prosperity, by creating an environment where hardwork and innovation is rewarded, and indolence and rent seeking has no place. Let us be the generation that ends poverty in Kogi State. Let us be the generation that puts Kogi on the map for clean, renewable energy and alternative fuels.

“Let us turn our perennial flooding and other associated global warming crisis into an opportunity for innovation, tourism, job creation, and an incentive for businesses.

Let us join hands, rise up to the occasion and Vote for me as Governor of Kogi State to lead this transformational leadership for the next generation, and I assure you that together, we would make future generations proud of all we would achieve”, he said.

L-R: National Chairman, African Democratic Congress (ADC), , Chief Ralph Nwosu, National Secretary, Labour Party, Alh. Umar Farouk Ibrahim,The BOT Chairman ADC, Dr. Ibrahim Mani and the Labour Party Chieftain, Prof. Pat Utomi, during the endorsement of Mr. Peter Obi of Labour party as their Presidential Candidate for the February 25th election

sole ADC Presidential Candidate. held yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-owo.

LAPO gave N70bn loan to 262,977 grantees In 15 years

From Abubakar Y Ojimaojo ABUJA

The Executive Director of Lift

Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO), Honestus Ayobami Obadiora, said the financing firm has disbursed over N70 billion to 262,977 clients since 2007 under the LAPO Rural Development Initiative (LARDI).

He disclosed this on Monday at the annual media forum in Benin City where he stated that the loan was disbursed to clients in 303 branches across 22 states in Nigeria.

Obadiora also said under LARDI, N23.5bn was disbursed to improve the livelihood of rural farmers as well as support micro businesses between January and December 2022.

He added that the mandate of LARDI was to improve the income, food security and general living conditions of rural households, particularly womenheaded households and youths.

Speaking further, Obadiora said: “We are delighted that the beneficiaries who were hitherto subsistence farmers and smallscale business owners have expanded their farmlands and businesses with improved income for family upkeep and savings for the future.

He said, “LAPO addresses challenges limiting farmers’ productivity and income as well as business expansion and growth such as non-availability of inputs for improved farm yield and limited access to finance.

“The organisation builds the capacity of rural farmers and business owners through on-farm demonstration, workshop and training programmes.”

On LAPO’s health project, Obadiora added that between January, 2016, and December, 2022, 3,368,142 million community members were sensitised against cancer by the LAPO-C4 project.

He explained that 86,198 of the beneficiaries were referred for further screening and treatment in government-approved health facilities.

Report: Nigeria’s bonds record huge gains as investors predict victory for Tinubu

Nigerian bonds recorded some of the best gains in emerging markets on Monday, Bloomberg is reporting.

The news agency said five of Nigeria’s dollar bonds ranked among the 10 best performers on Monday in a Bloomberg index of 71 emerging and frontier nations.

The country’s sovereign risk premium narrowed the most this year on Monday, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. data.

The equity benchmark in Lagos rose to an eight-month high.

The development was attributed to expectations by investors that Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives

Congress (APC), who’s taken an early lead in the presidential election tally, would implement much-needed fiscal reforms.

“Markets seem to be increasingly pricing in a Tinubu win, given the expectations that he could push through reforms quicker than others,” Simon Quijano-Evans, chief economist at Gemcorp Capital Management, was quoted as saying.

“But it is difficult to see this holding if the election winner is unable to quickly turn around the macro story with visible reforms and personnel changes.”

Quijano-Evans also said some of the gains might have been driven by bargain hunters after

Nigeria’s bonds tumbled in the run-up to the elections.

Bloomberg said Nigeria’s bond due 2047 rose 1.8 cents on the dollar to 68.8, cutting its yield by 33 basis points to 11.5 percent.

Meanwhile, securities maturing in 2029, 2030, 2032 and 2033 all rallied more than 2% in price.

The NGX 50 Index rose for a fourth day to the highest level since June 2022, with Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc accounting for more than half of the gains.

JPMorgan gauge of sovereignrisk premium, meantime, narrowed 42 basis points to 723 – a reduction of 104 basis points

in the past three days.

It said the measure had hovered above the 1,000 basispoint mark until November 3, the widely accepted threshold to indicate a debt-distressed nation.

On his part, Patrick Curran, a senior economist at Tellimer Ltd, said, “Tinubu, who we perceive as being the least market-friendly of the three main candidates, is currently in the driver’s seat, but it is still early days and the positive reaction in Nigerian credit could indicate that markets think Obi stands a fighting chance.”

“There is likely to be a positive macro policy shift at the margin no matter who wins the election.”

Action Aid engages 1,000 women on ICT

From Abubakar Y Ojimaojo, ABUJA

The ActionAid Nigeria and the Global Peace Development (GPD) have sensitised about 1,000 women in 12 communities in Kaduna State on the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve their lives.

The programme which took

place in the communities where ActionAid’s SARVE III Project is being implemented, was to mark the International Women Day (IWD).

At Narayi community, a GPD resource person, Malextive Abeekyaa, said the sensitisation was aimed at bridging the digital gap among women and to improve job opportunities and means of earning income for women.

She said, “Globally, it has been noticed that women are always left behind when it comes to certain aspects of life like engineering. A few women are gradually coming in and when you look at the digital space, you will see that there are more men than women.

“The United Nations has predicted that 1.5 trillion dollars will be lost because women are not participating in the digital

world and that is why we are creating awareness to the women in the grassroots that the mobile phones are not only for calls, but that there is a lot they can do with their phones.”

A participant, Victoria Bamaiyi, said she was better informed on the need to open bank accounts and take advantage of the ongoing cashless policy in the country to expand her businesses.

BUA Cement’s Profit Rose 2.21% To N88bn In 6 Months

From Abubakar Y Ojimaojo ABUJA

BUA Cement Plc has recorded a net profit of N88.73 billion in its audited financials for June 2022. The profit represents 2.21 per cent over the N86.81bn

attained a year before. The cement production company also posted N591.80bn in its gross earnings, translating to 31.42 per cent over N450.30bn in 2021. Profit Before Tax inched by 0.42 per cent to stand at N97.80bn as

against the N97.37bn recorded in 2021. However, its shares outstanding declined to 34,611m from 34,719m shares in 2021, while total liabilities rose by 13.53 per cent to N12.127bn from N10.681bn posted a year

before.

At the close of transactions on Monday, investors on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) traded 123,440m shares in 40 deals at N99.45 per share. Its total market capitalisation stood at N3.36trn.

Google announces $4m funds for startups in Africa, Europe

From Abubakar Yunusa Abuja

Google has announced applications for the third cohort of its Black Founders Fund for startups in Africa and Euroupe.

This was made known in a statement by the Head of Startup Ecosystem, Google, sub-Saharan Africa, Folarin Aiyegbusi, on Tuesday in Lagos.

He disclosed the technology company would designate four million dollars to support eligible black-founded startups this year.

Aiyegbusi said the programme was in line with its commitment to digital transformation and support to black-founded startups.

He revealed the startups operating and Headquartered in Africa or having a legal presence on the continent were eligible to apply for the BFF.

He said that startups that wish to apply should be benefiting the black community or early-stage startups with black founders or diverse founding teams.

Currency in circulation drops to N1.38tn

The total amount of currency-in-circulation in the country dropped from N3.29tn as of the end of October 2022 to N1.38tn as of the end of January 2023 as a result of the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Figures obtained from the CBN showed this represents a drop of N1.91tn in the threemonth period.

The Governor, CBN, Emefiele, had in October 2022, announced plans to redesign the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.

Emefiele also announced deadlines for Nigerians to swap their old with the new notes.

The banking sector regulator said, “Accordingly, all Deposit Money Banks currently holding the existing denominations of the currency may begin returning these notes back to the CBN effective immediately. The newly designed currency will be released to the banks in the order of first-come-first-serve basis.

“Customers of banks are enjoined to begin paying into

their bank accounts the existing currency to enable them to withdraw the new banknotes once circulation begins.”

He decried the challenges associated with currency management including significant hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, with statistics showing that over 80 per cent of currencyin-circulation was outside the vaults of commercial banks.

Other challenges, he added included shortage of clean and fit banknotes with attendant negative perception of the CBN and increased risk to financial stability; and increasing ease and risk of counterfeiting evidenced by several security reports.

In recent years, he said, the CBN had recorded significantly higher rates of counterfeiting especially at the higher denominations of N500 and N1,000 banknotes.

Although the global best practice was for central banks to redesign, produce and circulate new local legal tender every five to eight years, he said, the naira had not been redesigned in the last 20 years.

CBN increases currency in

–

CBN

circulation by N418bn over cash transactions Currency in circulation hits N3.33tn on cash transactions.

“On the basis of these trends, problems, and facts, and in line with Sections 19, Subsections A and B of the CBN Act 2007, the management of the CBN sought and obtained the approval of the President to redesign, produce, and circulate new series of banknotes at N100, N200, N500, and N1,000 levels,” Emefiele said.

Before the currency redesign plan of the CBN, huge figure of currency in circulation was recorded.

According to the CBN, the currency in circulation rose by N58.36bn to N2.84tn in September 2022 from N2.79tn in August.

The currency in circulation rose to N2.81tn in July, 2022 from N2.74tn at the end of June, 2022. It fell to N2.79tn in May from about N2.80tn at the end of April.

Currency-in-circulation is defined as currency outside the vaults of the central bank; that is, all legal tender currency in the hands of the general public

and in the vaults of the Deposit Money Banks, according to the apex bank.

The CBN stated that it employed the “accounting/ statistical/withdrawals and deposits approach” to compute the currency in circulation in Nigeria.

This approach involved tracking the movements in currency in circulation on a transaction-by-transaction basis.

It said for every withdrawal made by a DMB at one of CBN’s branches, an increase in the CIC was recorded, adding that for every deposit made by a DMB at one of CBN’s branches, a decrease in the CIC was recorded.

The transactions are all recorded in the CBN’s CIC account, and the balance on the account at any point in time represents the country’s currency in circulation.

According to the apex bank, analysis of the currency in circulation showed that a large and increasing proportion of the naira outside the commercial banking system was held by the general public who hoard a lot of the new banknotes.

Aiyegbusi said that startups should be building for Africa and the global market, have the growth potential to raise more funding and create jobs.

According to him, selected startups will receive between $150,000 and $200,000 equityfree cash awards and per startup in Google Cloud credits, support in the form of training and access to a network of mentors to assist in tackling the challenges unique to each startup.

“Startups are a critical driver of innovation, economic growth and social progress especially in Africa and the support that the selected startups will receive will go a long way to unlock the potential and promote growth in the African tech ecosystem and the next generation of African tech entrepreneurs.

‘’We encourage all eligible startups to apply following the successful completion of two cohorts of the BFF, the programme has supported a total of 110 black-owned startups across Africa,’’ he said.

He said that 60 growthstage startups were selected and supported through the programme last year in Africa.

Aiyegbusi said that Africa has a growing population with one in three Africans estimated to be under 35 years by 2050.

From Abubakar Y Ojimaojo ABUJA

FCTA/investors sign MOU on school sports dev’t

By Stanley Onyekwere

In a move aimed at harnessing the potentials of students in the area of sporting activities, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has enter into partnership with private investors on sports development and management in the Territory.

To this end, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between FCT Administration and Ratels Sports Development Foundation, on annual School Sports Festival was signed yesterday, in Abuja.

Speaking at a brief official MOU signing ceremony, FCT

Permanent Secretary, Olusade Adesola, expressed joy over the partnership, saying that funding of sports without the involvement of private sectors by the government not visible.

Adeola noted that the involvement of private sector stakeholders in funding of sporting activities has become a trending things around the world, adding that Nigeria should not be an exemption.

He said, “ As a matter of fact, when i was in Youth and Sports, during some of our sports participation abroad, i observed that some of the officials that come from different countries are not really government officials, some are from private

sectors hired by those countries.

“So I have to suggest this to my Minister at the Youth and Sports then, and it was approved. That was why, when i saw your proposal i was happy about this partnership because government can not fund sports alone.”

Earlier, the President and Founder, Ratels Sports Development Foundation, Paul Edeh explained that importance of sports development in schools can not be overemphasized, noting that the best place to catch and groom young stars early through regular sports activities is the school system.

According to him: “ Today, history is being made as this

would be the first time a program of this kind would be conceptualized to host schools festival with private sector for an initial period of 5 years which will guarantee the sustainability and consistency of the programme.

“Our approach to this partnership is not limited to hosting the FCT Schools Sports Festival alone but to groom, monitor, mentor and nurture the talents discovered during the festival.

“The target for the FCT Schools Sports Festival are boys and girls in Primary, Junior and Senior Secondary Schools in the FCT. The event would accommodate the following

sporting activities in both male and female categories such as football, basketball, volleyball, athletics, table tennis, badminton, javelin, chess, amongst others.”

On his part, Secretary, FCT Education Secretariat, Sani Dahir El- Katuzu disclosed that sports has an important role in achieving health targets of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the goal of increasing physical activities by 15 percent over the next decade.

“This MOU is to impact our student’ s education and health, promote tolerance, discipline and respect as it will help empower our boys and girls”, he stressed.

Good governance: CCB drills FCT officials on combating corruption

By Stanley Onyekwere

The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), has stressed the need for officials of FCT Administration to support the fight against corruption at all levels, in the interest of good governance.

This point was made by the Chairman of the Bureau, Prof. Isa Mohammed, at a recent workshop it organised in conjunction with FCTA for political office holders in Abuja.

Mohammed, represented by Bulus Zaphania, particularly informed the participants that they are expected to comply with the Code of Conduct for Public Officers as prescribed in the 1999

Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and other laws related thereto.

He noted that the programme would guide political office holders on compliance with Code of Conduct in line with the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS).

“We employ The Area Council Chairmen to take queue from the FCTA administration that has put up this workshop, and replicate same at your various Area Councils so as to ensure 100% Compliance from all your staff.

“The participants are requested to put public interest above every other interest while carrying out their duties”,

he stressed.

Furthermore, the CCB boss told the officials that the Bureau will soon launch an online Assets declaration portal, which the pilot scheme will start with its staff.

While delivering his remarks, the FCT Permanent Secretary, Adesola Olusade, said the workshop would help to build the capacity and knowledge of the workforce to strengthen fight against corruption.

Accorfing to him, “The workshop will help build the capacity and knowledge of FCTA officials in compliance with the Code of Conduct, which will also strengthen the fight against corruption in the system”.

One of the participants, and Senior

Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to the Minister of FCT, Comrade Ikharo Attah, said public office holders should be guided by the code of conduct.

“The workshop is what we have to take serious, because most a times public officers don’t understand that they are holding a public trust, every public office holder should be guided by the code of conduct. You don’t put your interest above the collective interest of the people.

“We must stand to do the things that are for good of the people, not only for your children and your family. What is expected of public office holders is to have high standard of conduct”, he stressed.

Ron DeSantis still hasn’t said he’s running for president. What’s he waiting for?

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis isn’t running for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination yet. But he kind of is.

The conservative firebrand, who public opinion surveys suggest is the most popular Republican choice not named Donald Trump, has not officially announced his candidacy, but he’s taking all the steps one would expect of a politician on the verge of a presidential plunge.

He’s made recent appearances outside his state, including to law enforcement groups in New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois. He has upcoming party fundraising events scheduled for Alabama, California and Texas. His political action committee is hiring staff with national campaign experience. And his aspirationally titled new memoir - The Courage to Be Free - will hit the stands on Tuesday, for which he has a full slate of promotional media appearances scheduled.

So what is he waiting for? By this time four years ago, there were 11 Democratic candidates vying for their party’s nomination, including future (for a time) front-runners Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Two candidates had already announced and subsequently dropped out. The race for the Democratic nomination was in full swing.

Florida business first

According to Florida-based conservative columnist Myra Adams, the answer is straightforward. Mr DeSantis has every reason to launch a bid - he either wins and gets the nomination or loses and is well positioned for another shot in 2028. But

because he was just inaugurated to a second four-year term as governor last month, he needs to wait to enter the race until after the Florida legislative session ends, which could come as late as May.

“Announcing now wouldn’t be a good idea,” she says. “He just got re-elected, and having six months of breathing room makes sense. Then he can leverage the Florida legislative session to show off his leadership skills to a national audience.”

On Monday, the governor signed a law curtailing the ability of Disney, which operates a theme park in central Florida, to run the local government and infrastructure services around its property. Mr DeSantis has sparred with the California-based entertainment giant over his conservative education policies, including a law limiting how public-school teachers can discuss LGBT issues. The confrontation made national headlines.

He has appointed prominent conservatives to positions overseeing Florida universities and supported legislation that would defund diversity programmes, curtail faculty tenure, set new general education requirements and target gender and race studies in colleges.

Mr DeSantis also has a major address to the state on 7 March, which will give him a platform to further tout the kind of conservative governing bona fides that will appeal to Republican primary voters outside of Florida.

Going on tour

He’s hit the road to promote the kind of political memoir typically released by

prospective White House candidates. On Sunday, he gave his first media interview on the topic, to Mark Levin of Fox News.

During the interview, he decried the political influence of big corporations, accused federal bureaucrats of undermining conservative policies and defended what some have criticised as his overly aggressive brand of politics.

“If you’re not on offence, then you’re basically a sitting duck and you let these people come and just take pot shots at you all the time,” he said.

He also said he considered himself a Midwesterner at heart - identifying with a region that’s a key battleground in presidential elections.

The DeSantis book itself is the kind of

cautious work typical of politicians with national ambitions who don’t want the written word to come back to haunt them.

In excerpts published in the New York Post, the Florida governor touts his accomplishments in Florida and speaks warmly of his potential opponent, Mr Trump and the “good relationship” they had while he represented a Florida district in Congress.

He also credits the former president with helping him win the Florida governor jobup to a point.

“I knew a Trump endorsement would provide me with the exposure to [Republican] primary voters across the state of Florida, and I was confident that many would see me as a good candidate once they learned about my record,” he said.

Ukraine war: Zelensky says situation in Bakhmut worsening

The situation in the city of Bakhmut, on the eastern frontline, is becoming “more and more difficult”, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

Russian forces have been trying to take the city for over six months.

“The enemy is constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions”, Mr Zelensky stated.

The Ukrainian leader’s remarks came as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned China against arming Russia during a visit to Kyiv on Monday.

Some of the fiercest fighting since Russia invaded Ukraine just over a year ago has taken place in Bakhmut, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, part of which is under the control of Russia and its proxy forces.

Recently efforts by Russian forces to capture the industrial city have intensified, with its troops gaining ground. Footage carried by the Russian RIA state news agency showed Su-25 fighter jets roaring over Bakhmut.

Despite the Russian gains, a reporter from the Reuters news agency who visited the area on Monday said there was no indication that Ukraine’s forces were preparing to withdraw, and said reinforcements were arriving.

The separatist leader of the selfproclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, said “practically all roads” into the city were “under [Russian] fire control”.

And the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, said the situation around Bakhmut was “extremely tense”.

“Despite significant losses, the enemy threw in the most prepared assault units of Wagner, who are trying to break through the defences of our troops and surround the city,” Gen Syrskyi said.

Speaking about the situation in his nightly address on Monday, President Zelensky said managing to gain a foothold in Bakhmut and ensuring its defence were being heavily compromised by Russia’s renewed onslaught.

He was “grateful to each and every person who is heroically holding” the area.

President Zelensky also called once again for modern combat aircraft to be sent so that “the entire territory of our country” can be defended from “Russian terror”.

On her surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday, Janet Yellen announced the latest transfer of $1.25bn (£1bn) in economic aid to Ukraine.

Ms Yellen reiterated US President Joe Biden’s message - made during his own visit to Kyiv last week - that Washington would stand with Ukraine for as long as it took to win the war.

Speaking to CNN, Ms Yellen added that while Russia’s economy had not yet buckled under the vast sanctions imposed on Russia by Western powers, she expected it to grow weaker over time.

She also stated that Russia’s ability to replenish military equipment destroyed in attacks on Ukraine was being “gradually jeopardized”, adding that any move from China to supply such weaponry to Russia would lead to “severe” consequences.

“We have been extremely clear that we will not tolerate systematic violations by any country of the sanctions that we have put in place that are intended to deprive Russia of access to military equipment to wage this war,” she said.

“And we have been very clear with the Chinese government and have made clear to Chinese firms and financial institutions that the consequences of violating those sanctions

would be very severe.”

Last week US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China was considering supplying weapons and ammunition to Russia. Beijing strongly denied the claim.

A meeting between China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week looked to many to be an indication of China’s close ties with Russia.

And Mr Putin’s staunch ally, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, is scheduled to begin a three day tour of China on Tuesday. During the visit he is expected to meet with President Xi Jinping.

Source;BBC

Trump signs were seen at Mr DeSantis’ re-election party in November

Civilians taking refuge in a humanitarian aid centre in Bakhmut on Monday

Nigeria election 2023: Opposition calls for poll to be scrapped

Opposition parties in Nigeria have called for the presidential election to be scrapped, describing it as a sham.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party said results had been manipulated, leaving the poll irretrievably compromised.

Ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu is currently in the lead with just over 44% of the vote, official results released so far show.

The electoral commission has not yet commented on the opposition’s demand.

“I demand that this sham of an election be cancelled and we call on Inec [the Independent National Electoral Commission] to conduct fresh elections within the window period provided by the electoral act,” said Julius Abure, chairman of the Labour Party.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has also backed the call by Labour and the PDP, which is the main opposition party, for a fresh election to be held.

Angry protesters denounce electoral commission

Agroup of angry protesters have gathered outside the national collation centre in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

They are carrying placards denouncing the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec), alleging votes have been stolen.

“Everything happening there is all lies, all lies, lies... they are cooking up results,” one man told the BBC as he pointed to the Inec collation centre.

Tension is growing in the country, three days after Nigerians voted in an election marred in parts by violent disruptions and ballot box snatching.

Opposition parties have called for a fresh election, alleging that Inec has bungled the poll - an allegation the electoral body denies. The announcement of official results is due to begin in the next half hour.

BreakingOpposition parties call for fresh Nigeria elections

Three opposition parties have called for Nigeria’s election to be cancelled and rerun, over alleged widespread irregularities

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) made the announcement at a press conference in the capital, Abuja.

They were critical of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) and its handling of the electronic voting system.

“I demand that this sham of an election be cancelled and we call on Inec to conduct fresh elections within the window period provided by the electoral act,” Julius Abure, chairman of the Labour Party said.

PDP calls for new polls in some areas

The main opposition party in Nigeria has expressed its concern over the conduct of Saturday’s election, saying it was marred by “problems”.

A statement by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec)

“Let’s be clear, the election is inconclusive and the Inec chairman cannot proceed without the political parties being present to object or accept the results at the national collation exercise.”

The opposition party urged poll officials to declare Saturday’s election as “inconclusive” and to organise repeat polls in areas where the electronic voting machines were not used and

where the exercise was disrupted by violence.

Both the PDP and the opposition Labour Party have alleged there was a lack of transparency with the new electronic system, which was being used to accredit voters for the first time.

Inec has denied the opposition parties’ complaints.

Latest results show Mr Tinubu has garnered over 44% of the tallied votes. His main rival Atiku Abubakar has almost 33% of the vote.

Labour’s Peter Obi, who is popular with younger voters in urban areas, has close to 18%, having caused an upset by defeating Mr Tinubu in the biggest city, Lagos.

Nigeria result announcements delayed until afternoon

The national collation centre here in the capital, Abuja, has yet to start announcing results this morning.

Electoral officials says there are five states now ready to announce – but they will wait until 13:00 GMT (14:00 local time) to allow for more results to be ready.

On Monday, results were released from 14 of the country’s 36 states.

Ruling APC party candidate Bola Tinubu is leading with just over 44% of the tallied votes. His main rival Atiku Abubakar from the PDP has almost 33% of the vote.

Labour Party’s Peter Obi has close to 18%, having caused an upset by defeating Mr Tinubu in the biggest city, Lagos.

Obi wins the capital Abuja - provisional results

Nigerian presidential candidate Peter Obi, from the Labour Party, has won in the capital, Abuja - known as Federal Capital Territory (FCT), provisional results show.

Mr Obi got 281,717 votes followed by the ruling APC candidate Bola Tinubu, who polled 90,902 votes. Opposition politician Atiku Abubakar came in third with 74,199 votes.

This result needs to be certified and announced by the Independent National Electoral (Inec) Commission before it becomes official.

Nigeria government blasts Obasanjo over fraud warning

The Nigerian government has accused

former President Olusegun Obasanjo of attempting “to undermine the electoral process” and “incite violence” after he cast doubt over the veracity of Saturday’s election.

“Though masquerading as an unbiased and concerned elder statesman, former President Obasanjo is in reality a known partisan who is bent on thwarting, by subterfuge, the choice of millions of Nigerian voters,’’ Information Minister Lai Mohammed said.

“What is expected from a self-respecting elder statesman are words and actions that douse tension and serve as a soothing balm.”

In a statement released on Monday night, Mr Obasanjo said tension was building up in the country amid questions about whether the elections had been fair and transparent.

The 85-year-old asked President Muhammadu Buhari to “let all elections that do not pass the credibility and transparency test be cancelled”.

But Mr Mohammed countered, saying that Mr Obasanjo was not “qualified” to advise Mr Buhari. The information ministry tweeted the statement:

“In his time, [he] organised perhaps the worst election since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999,” the information ministry statement quoted Mr Mohammed as saying.

Mr Obasanjo had warned that the country faced “looming danger” if allegations of voter fraud were not dealt with.

Mr Mohamed accused the former leader of promoting “unverified claims” and “wild allegations picked up from the street”.

He went on to praise the electoral body, saying they had managed to act “creditably”, and pointed to preliminary reports by the regional body Ecowas’ Electoral Observation Mission and the Commonwealth Observer Group.

He added that anyone could contest the conduct of the election through the courts, but urged Nigerians to wait for the electoral commission to announce the official results.

Atiku wins in Sokoto and Kadunaprovisional results

Nigeria’s main opposition candidate

Atiku Abubakar has won in the northern states of Sokoto and Kaduna, according to provisional results released on Tuesday morning.

He narrowly won in Sokoto with 288,679 votes against the ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu’s 285,444 votes.

Labour Party’s Peter Obi got 6,568 votes.

The opposition won a more convincing victory in Kaduna state, with Mr Abubakar getting 554,360 votes against Mr Tinubu’s 399,293 votes.

Results released at the state level need to be certified and announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) chairman.

Death threat complaints halt proceedings in Rivers

The announcement of results for the southern oil-rich state of Rivers have been suspended as the electoral official in charge has complained of death threats.

Charles Teddy Adias said he and his family had been threatened by those alleging he intended to rig the results - which he denies.

He says he will not collate any further results until this matter is addressed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec).

The BBC’s Nduka Orjinmo says Rivers state is a PDP stronghold but many of its young educated residents are supporters of Labour Party candidate Peter Obi.

There are also indications that its powerful governor Nyesom Wike, who is leading a rebellion within the PDP after losing at the primary last year to Atiku Abubakar, is backing the ruling APC party.

Our reporter says this will affect matters at the national collation centre in the capital, Abuja, as a winner cannot be announced until all the results are first collated at the state level.

Obi wins Cross River state - provisional results

Labour’s Peter Obi has won presidential elections in Cross River state, according to provisional results released on Tuesday.

He won by 179,917 votes, followed by the ruling party’s Bola Tinubu’s 130,520.

Opposition politician Atiku Abubakar got 95,425 votes.

The win is Mr Obi’s fourth state win after victory in Lagos, Enugu and Nasarawa states.

Results at the state level need to be certified and announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) chairman.

Source: BBC

Nearly 90 million people were eligible to vote in the election

Iran investigating poisoning of 650 schoolgirls

At least 650 girls have been poisoned by toxic gas in Iran since November, in what many believe is a deliberate attempt to force their schools to shut.

No girls have died, but dozens have suffered respiratory problems, nausea, dizziness and fatigue.

“It became evident that some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed down,” the deputy health minister said on Sunday.

However, he later said that his remarks had been misinterpreted.

The prosecutor general announced last week that he was opening a criminal investigation, but he said that the available information only indicated “the possibility of criminal and premeditated acts”.

Meanwhile, public frustration is continuing to grow.

The first poisoning took place on 30 November, when 18 students from the Nour Technical School in the religious city of Qom were taken to hospital.

Since then, more than 10 girls’ schools have been targeted in the surrounding province.

At least 194 girls are reported to have been poisoned in the past week at four schools in the city of Borujerd, in the western province of Lorestan.

The poisoned girls have reported the smell of tangerine or rotten fish before falling ill.

Earlier this month, at least

100 people protested outside the governor’s office in Qom.

“You are obliged to ensure my children’s safety! I have two daughters,” one father shouted in a video widely shared on social media. “Two daughters... and all I can do is not let them go to school.”

“This is a war!” declared a woman. “They are doing this in a girls’ high school in Qom to force us to sit at home. They want girls to stay at home.”

Some parents have said their children were ill for weeks after the poisoning.

Another video from a hospital shows a teenage girl lying dazed on a bed, with her mother beside her.

“Dear mothers, I’m a mother and my child is in a hospital bed and her limbs are weak,” says the distraught mother. “I pinch her but she doesn’t feel anything. Please don’t send your children to school.”

Religious heartland

At a news conference on Sunday, Deputy Health Minister Younes Panahi said the girls had been poisoned by chemicals that “are not military grade and are publicly available”.

“The pupils do not need any invasive treatment and it’s necessary to maintain calm,” he added.

Dr Panahi’s comment that it was “evident that some people wanted all schools... to be closed down” appeared to confirm the government believed the poisonings were premeditated.

His subsequent denial suggested splits among officials over how to handle public anger when no suspects have been identified.

The poisonings have notably been concentrated in Qom, a city that is home to important Shia Muslim shrines and the religious leadership that forms the backbone of the Islamic Republic.

Since September, the

clerical establishment has been challenged by the mass protests that erupted after the death in custody of a young Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, who was detained by morality police for allegedly failing to wear her headscarf “properly”.

Some Iranians have speculated that if the schoolgirls are being poisoned as “payback” for their role in the unrest. Social

media was flooded with videos showing schoolgirls ripping off their headscarves and chanting anti-establishment slogans. Others have speculated that the poisonings are the work of hardliners who want to “copy” the Taliban in Afghanistan and the militant Islamist group Boko Haram in Nigeria by terrorising parents to stop sending their girls to school.

Ukraine war: Viral conspiracy theories falsely claim the war is fake

The first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has led to a spike in false claims about the war on social media, with some posts gaining millions of engagements.

A number of US right-wing accounts with large followings posted a series of baseless claims that suggested the entire Ukraine war might be a hoax perpetrated by Western media and governments.

Those spreading the most viral claims included some who had previously been suspended from Twitter and allowed back onto the platform following Elon Musk’s takeover.

The war is not fake

One false claim that has been gaining traction on Twitter and elsewhere suggested that the entire war has somehow been faked.

As evidence, some prominent right-wing accounts in the US cited the supposed lack of footage from the front line.

A commentator complained about “the lack of war footage” in a viral post, saying it “smacks of a scam”.

Another Twitter influencer

with 1.4 million followers claimed there was “no footage” and “no detailed updates” of the war.

That post was later shared by former US national security adviser Michael Flynn, who added: “I double dare anyone to say he is wrong.”

However, the war in Ukraine has been well-documented.

Alongside eyewitness accounts, there’s been ample footage from the Ukrainian front line filed by the BBC and other global broadcasters who have also examined false narratives about some of the conflict’s key events. There’s also evidence from governments and agencies around the world that confirms that the war is real.

From its outset, social media has been full of videos of the war, many of which have been verified as genuine by journalists.

Damage to a Kyiv tower block was not faked

Two days after Russia’s invasion, footage of a high-rise apartment building in Kyiv with a huge hole in it after it was hit by a missile was widely shared around the world. Reporters covered the

aftermath of the damage in detail from the scene of the incident.

In the past few days, images of the block, which has since been repaired and partially reconstructed, went viral again on social media.

The image led to claims that either the block had never been hit, or that the entire war is a hoax, because - the argument went - it would be impossible to restore a building during an ongoing conflict.

A right-wing podcaster and anti-vaccine activist, whose previously banned account was recently reinstated by Twitter, was among those that shared the claim.

However, apart from regular Russian missile attacks, Kyiv has not been on the frontline of the war since late March 2022, when Russian forces withdrew from the city and its surroundings to focus on eastern Ukraine.

The process of the block’s repair and reconstruction began in May of last year, and has been reported in detail by Ukrainian outlets, coupled with images of the block under construction

throughout the summer and autumn.

Misleading moving corpse video returns

A video claiming to show a news reporter in Ukraine standing in front of rows of corpses in body bags, with one of the bodies “moving” has been viewed millions of times in the past few days.

It led to claims that it was “proof” of actors being hired to play dead bodies to support the Western narrative on the Ukraine war.

“Stop moving - you’re supposed to be dead! Psyop?” claimed a widely shared tweet by a right-wing account.

The video was shared with similar claims by several other right-wing influencers on Facebook and TikTok.

The video is taken from a report by Austrian newspaper Osterreich of a climate protest in Vienna in early February last year, before the Russian invasion had even begun, in which activists aimed to highlight the danger of carbon emissions to human life.

This video is not only false, it’s a repeat offender. It had

previously been shared as “evidence” that Covid deaths had been faked. Then, as now, it is not what it claims to be.

Zelensky’s ‘body double’

Viral photos and a video shared online claim to show the “accidental” reveal of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s body double.

One claim, viewed by millions, is that the Ukrainian president has a “secret body double” who appeared by mistake in footage aired by Polish television, seemingly wearing the same outfit as the president.

Other posts show the same man in the background during US President Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv last week.

However, the man in question is easily identifiable as Maksym Donets, Mr Zelensky’s personal bodyguard. According to Reuters, Mr Donets has been the head of the president’s security team since May 2019.

Images of him following the Ukrainian president around in public in different attire can be easily found online.

Source: BBC

Parents are afraid to send their girls to school and are calling for online lessons

‘There are risks involved in property acquisition’

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

An Estate Surveyor and Valuer ESV Tochukwu

Emmanuel Agu said there are risk factors involved in acquiring property in Nigeria

He said risk associated with property acquisition are many.

He said some are foreseable and some cannot be foreseen.

The Estate Surveyor made this known to Peoples Daily during a chat in Abuja.

According to ESV. Agu, “Property is a thing or things that someone owns like, piece of land, building or both together, vehicle and knowledge otherwise known or referred to as intellectual property.

“It has quality, power that belongs naturally to something”.

He said there are several ways of acquiring landed property, we are going to focus on land and building He emphasized that the most common way to acquire property is by direct purchase from the previous owner, other ways are through auction sale, mortgage, sale by treaty private and public and compulsory acquisition among others .

ESV. Agu further explained

that acquisition of landed property direct purchase could be from the land or building owner.

“This is purchased directly from the owner of the property”.

He said there are steps to following when purchasing such property from the owner .

“Ascertaining the title document which includes: Occupancy, Right of Occupancy, Customary Right of occupancy, Land Title Certificate, Land Agreement”.

Others are, the survey plan attached to the title document is important in assisting you to identify the actual location of the land where same is not within a developed area.

Where there is a land agreement, you must examine what we call “recital”.

“This deals with historical analogy or background of the title holder and consequently confer some authenticity of whosoever claim to be the owner”,he said .

Speaking on auction sales,He said this type of sales are mostly concerned buildings.

He said one of the major things that must be looked in an auction is the method of

instruction.

“If it is a liquidated property, then one must exercise caution and price it low in case there is litigation”.

Similarly,he said mortgage properties are mortgaged for loans as securities could be acquired after foreclosure of the mortgage.

He stated that, in having a mortgaged property, “There are documents one would look for here are such as, deed of Mortgage empowering the Bank or Institution to take over and sell the building, registration of such deed and to examine whether its seller ought to obtain court order or nor before selling, If he ought to, the court order must be obtained”.

Others includes,Whether there was a consent to the transaction by the appropriate authority. You can also find out if there was any valuation exercise done shortly before the sale.

“You request whether the current seller now has all it takes to do perfection of title i.e. to change the name of the former owner to new owner. It is believed that a surveyor

should strive to find out all these information.”

Similarly, “if the property is occupied, you need to find out the terms of occupation that’s whether they are monthly tenant or yearly tenant and outstanding rent, if any”.

He also explained, compulsory acquisition saying that, the democratic republic nature of governance which we operate in Nigeria allows for compulsory acquisition of a person’s property or extinguishments of his or her right to property.

“Compulsory acquisition can only be done by government and there are laid down procedures the procedure is that after identifying the areas to be acquired, such must be published in Gazzette and the Air to enable those who have interest in such areas to be aware.

“Then enumeration of the area to determine the quantum of compensation to be paid and prompt and adequate payment thereafter”, he said .

Giving more insight on the risks involved in property acquisition,he explained that where you’re given a

property to sell or you want to purchase property on behalf of your client.

“The following is very key to check confirmation of the house to be sold to correspond with the description, visit the site and location.

Ask for copies of tittle Deed or Certificate and history of the ownership of the property. Conduct search at Land Registry.

“Where the house being sold belongs to a limited liability company conduct search at CAC to determine the quantum of debt if any.

If you’re satisfied with the above, you can now go into negotiation as to the price and modality of payment”.

According to him, payment is done, take the following steps.

“Ask for sighting the originals of the document, inclusive of the document, inclusive of building approved plan.

Discuss how to take over possession n case some occupants are in the premises.

By doing the above or going through the procedures, you would have taken enough caution”, ESV Agu stated .

The tiny diamond sphere that could unlock clean power

At 1:03am on Monday 5 December, scientists at the National Ignition Facility in California aimed their 192 beam laser at a cylinder containing a tiny diamond fuel capsule.

That powerful burst of laser light created immense temperatures and pressures and sparked a fusion reaction - the reaction which powers the sun.

The National Ignition Facility (NIF), part of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), had done such experiments before, but this time the energy that came out of the reaction, was more than the laser power used to trigger it.

Scientists have been trying for decades to meet that threshold and the hope is, one day, to build power stations that employ a fusion reaction to generate abundant, carbon-free electricity.

That’s still some way off. In the meantime, much work needs to be done in developing the technology.

One of the key components at NIF is a peppercorn-sized synthetic diamond capsule, which holds the fuel. The properties of that spherical capsule are crucial to creating a successful fusion experiment.

The sphere has to be perfectly smooth and contaminant-free - any anomalies could ruin the reaction.

Those precisely engineered spheres are not made in California though. They are the result of years of work by Diamond Materials, a company based in Freiburg, Germany.

“The demands on the [spherical] capsules are very high,” says Christoph Wild who, alongside Eckhard Wörner, is managing director of Diamond Materials.

“We collaborate closely with Lawrence Livermore and try to minimise defects like impurities, cavities or uneven walls.”

The 25-strong team at Diamond Materials manufactures synthetic diamond through a process called chemical vapour deposition.

It takes around two months to create each batch of 2040 capsules, which are made by painstakingly layering tiny diamond crystals around a silicon carbide core and polishing repeatedly.

During the development process they discovered that even the most meticulous polishing was not enough as at the microscopic

level the surface was still pitted and uneven.

Working with teams at LLNL, they eventually discovered they could glaze a polished capsule with a fresh layer of diamond crystals to achieve the clean mirror-like finish they needed.

When the diamond capsules arrive at LLNL, the silicon core is removed and a tiny glass tube is used to fill the hollow sphere with deuterium and tritium, both heavy kinds of hydrogen, which fuel the fusion reaction.

“Around that fuel pellet is a gold and depleted uranium cylinder,” explains Mike Farrell, vice president of inertial fusion technology at General Atomics, which is LLNL’s largest industrial partner.

The third and final layer of the capsule is an aluminium cylinder that is used to cool down the contents of the capsule before the reaction.

Another crucial area of technology for NIF are optics - anything that supports the transmission, detection or utilisation of light.

As NIF runs the most powerful laser in the world, it uses a lot of that tech, and optical components get damaged every time the machine is fired up.

Since the early 1970s, NIF has been working closely with optics manufacturers like Zygo Corporation and specialist glassmaker SCHOTT to fine-tune and supply replacement parts, as well as debris and blast shields.

Following December’s successful experiment, the next challenge for NIF and its partners will be to further improve tech in order to replicate and improve the reaction.

Mike Farrell hopes the step forward may help foster support for further research. “The experiment changed scientific opinion. Ignition was always thought of as almost unattainable, [or something that might only happen] 40 years in the future. The result in December was eyeopening.”

Back in Freiburg, Diamond Materials hopes to be able to invest more time into research. “About 20% of our team is involved in research and us two managing directors are also physicists,” says Mr Wild.

“Research at the level we produce requires a lot of resources and we can’t neglect production. So we will probably continue to grow the team. After all, the research of today leads to the products of tomorrow.”

Teams around the world are scrambling to build a working fusion power plant - using all sorts of approaches. But it will take many years and billions of dollars of investment.

Last year’s landmark at NIF is likely to give the sector a boost says

Mr Farrell: “Governmental and corporate funding may be easier to come by now that ignition has been proven possible.”

That investment will be needed to overcome the considerable engineering challenges that face building a working power plantnot least finding materials that can stand the high energy emitted by the fusion process.

But Mr Farrell is quick to point

out how quickly progress can gather momentum after the initial breakthrough is made.

“Once you show first principles, like we have just done, engineers then take over the reins to figure out how to reproducibly do that.

“Remember, the Wright brothers’ first flight happened in 1903 and the first supersonic flight was in the 1950s. In 40 years or so, a lot can progress.” Source: BBC

One of the key components at NIF is a peppercorn-sized synthetic diamond capsule, which holds the fuel. The properties of that spherical capsule are crucial to creating a successful fusion experiment. The sphere has to be perfectly smooth and contaminant-freeany anomalies could ruin the reaction.

The National Ignition Facility in California houses the world’s most powerful laser

Developing the target fuel capsule has taken decades of work

The surface of the fuel capsule has to be perfectly smooth

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U-20 AFCON: We are in Egypt to pick World Cup ticket - Bosso

By Amaechi Agbo

Nigeria men U-20 national football team coach, ladan Bosso has stated that the team are in Egypt for the 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON to pick the cadet World Cup.

The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup will hold in Indonesia from 10 may to 11 June, this year.

And Coach Bosso stated that the priority of the team is to pick the World cup ticket for the tournament the country has won two silver and a bronze medals.

“We came to Egypt with the mindset of picking one of the tickets to the FIFA U-20 World Cup and the victory against Mozambique is something that we planned,” Bosso said.

Bosso’s boys booked their place in the last eight of the tournament in Egypt after defeating Mozambique 2-0 in their last Group match.

However, the seven-time Africa Champions will ha e Uganda hurdle to navigate if they will reach the semifinal.

Nigeria beat Mozambique 2-0 to secure second place in Group A and qualify to the quarter-finals of the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. Goals from Samson Lawal and Ibrahim Muhammad secured the points for the Flying Eagles and they will face Uganda in the quarter-final on Thursday

Defender Solomon Agbalaka put in another Man of the Match performance in defence and the coach acknowledged his impact in the team

“It is expected (MOM award) because he’s somebody that I heard of and I had to leave Abuja to Lagos on two occasions to watch him play for his team,” Bosso said.

“I believe somebody can play from left back and centre back so he’s a good addition to the team so I saw him and followed up and I invited him to the

FIFA

camp.”

Meanwhile, organisers of the tournament, Confederation of Africa Football, CAF has released the full quarter final fixtures after the group stage matches were concluded on Monday

The Group Stages concluded on Monday night and saw Tunisia and Benin as the last two countries to book their place.

The Quarter-finals will be played between Thursday 02 and Friday 03 February 2023.

On Thursday, Senegal will face Benin at the Cairo International Stadium. The Teranga Cubs have been a dominant force in the tournament so far, winning all three matches in Group A with striker Pape Diop leading the scorers’ chart with four goals.

The second quarter-final game, also on Thursday, will see Uganda taking on Nigeria at Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia at 17h00 GMT

The Hippos of Uganda topped their group with one win and two draws, while Nigeria finished second in their group with two wins and a loss. Both teams will be eager to secure their spot in the semi-finals, and fans can expect a fiercely contested match.

On Friday, The Gambia and South Sudan will clash at Haras El Hodoud Stadium in Alexandria (14h00 GMT). The Gambia finished first in their group with three wins, while South Sudan qualified for the knockout stages as one of the best third-placed teams. The match promises to be an exciting encounter, with both teams looking to make it to the last four.

The final fixture of the quarterfinals will see Congo take on Tunisia at Cairo International Stadium in Cairo (17h00 GMT). Congo finished second in Group B with one win and two draws, while Tunisia finished in Group C with one win and a draw.

All semi-finalists will qualify for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Best Player: Alaba explains why he voted for Messi against Benzema

Austria captain David Alaba says it was a team decision for him to vote for Lionel Messi over his own Real Madrid team-mate Karim Benzema as men’s player of the year at the Best FIFA Awards.

Defender Alaba, 30, received

abuse on social media for not choosing Benzema with fans calling for him to “leave the capital”

Argentina forward Messi won the accolade on Monday ahead of France forwards Kylian Mbappe and Benzema.

“The Austrian national team

vote for this award as a team, not me alone,” said Alaba.

“Everyone in the team council is able to vote and that’s how it’s decided.”

Fifa released a list of who voted for whom at the awards. Alaba voted for Benzema second

and Mbappe third, prompting the hashtag #AlabaOut to trend on social media.

Benzema and Alaba have played together at Madrid since the latter joined from Bayern Munich in 2021.

“Everyone knows, especially Karim, how much I admire him and

his performances and I have often said that for me he is the best striker in the world, and that is still the case. Without doubt,” said Alaba. The award was voted for by national team coaches and captains as well as journalists and fans across the world.

Ladan Bosso, Flying Eagles Coach

Nasarawa United midfielder Osanga targets Better second NPLF stanza

With the second phase of the 2022/23 Nigeria

Premier Football League Season set to commence, Nasarawa United’s winger, King Osanga, has assured that they would turn around the fortune of the Club.

Osanga(MON) who featured in five out of the nine games for the Solid Miners in the first stanza of the league and scoring two goals, stated this to the Club’s Media on Monday in Lafia.

“We are battle ready for the second half of the league, even though our start to the season

wasn’t good enough.

“We are bringing our heads together for the survival of the team. Hopefully, we are up and ready for the second stanza.

“We work as a collective team. No tree can form a forest. I will always do my best by bringing my wealth of experience to take the team out of the position we ended in the first stanza.

“We don’t deserve to be where we are in the league. You know the history of the Club, but we can finish among the best at the end of the season.

“We will approach each game

as it comes, and this begins from our next game away to Remo Stars whom we beat 2-0 in our last home game before the league went on a break.

“Regarding boosting the team with some new legs, I think it’s a welcome development and we hope that whoever is brought into the team would add to the progress of the team.”

The Nigerian junior international won the FIFA U-17 World Cup for Nigeria in 2007 in South Korea and also adorned Nigeria’s colours at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt

in 2009.

Nasarawa United started the 2022/23 league campaign on a rather sour note, suffering six defeats, winning only two and drawing one game in the abridged Group ‘A’ fixtures, sitting at the 9th position, with seven points.”

But the Coach Bala Nikyuled team is doing everything possible for better performance upon resumption, with their first match away to Remo Stars whom they had beaten 2-0 in the first leg in Jos on 20th February, 2023.

for World Cup ticket

By Amaechi Agbo

Coach Isah Ladan Bosso believes he has the men to push Uganda’s Hippos off the way in their Africa U20 Cup of Nations quarter-final duel on Thursday and reach the FIFA U20 World Cup finals scheduled for Indonesia, 20th May – 11th June.

Both teams clash at the 22,000 -capacity Suez Canal Authority Stadium in Ismailia as from 7pm Egypt time (6pm Nigeria time) on Thursday, and the Flying Eagles’ tactician says that while he does not underrate the Hippos, he trusts his charges to make Nigeria proud and reach the tournament’s last four.

“Before we left our training camp in Morocco, the NFF President, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau told us clearly that the first objective should be getting a ticket to the FIFA World Cup. We are at that most important stage now and we cannot afford to falter.

“We are aware that Nigerians are looking up to us to deliver. While our mission remains bagging the World Cup ticket, we are also eyeing the trophy, which is still a number of matches away.

For the moment, we have Uganda in our view and we are working hard to see that we control proceedings on Thursday.”

Two-time silver medallists and one-time bronze medallists Nigeria are seeking to make another appearance at the FIFA U20 World Cup finals. They finished in third place when the tournament was staged in then USSR in 1985, beating the host nation on penalty shoot-out in the bronze medal match. Four years later, in Saudi Arabia, the

Chelsea defender Thiago Silver out for 6 Weeks

By Amaechi Agbo

Chelsea’s woeful performance in the Premier League may be far from over as their reliable defender and deputy captain, Thiago Silva has been ruled out for six weeks

Silver suffered knee ligament damage during Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at rivals Tottenham.

The 38-year-old Brazil captain had a scan on Monday and the club have not said how long he is likely to be out.

“Having sustained a knee injury during the first half of Sunday’s match against Tottenham Hotspur, Thiago underwent further assessment and a scan on his return to the training centre on Monday.

“Scan results from those assessments have confirmed damage to Thiago’s knee ligaments and he will now work closely with the club’s medical department during his rehabilitation to return to action as soon as possible,” Chelsea said in statement

It is however beloved that the defender would be out for 5 to 6 weeks

Silva will miss next week’s Champions League last-16 second leg against Dortmund, which Chelsea trail 1-0.

The Champions League is the Blues’ last chance of silverware this season.

Flying Eagles lost 0-2 to Portugal in a classic Final in Riyadh. And in 2005, Lionel Messi and Argentina were 2-1 winners in the Final match in The Netherlands.

The Hippos of Uganda finished top of their Group B which also included Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic. They defeated Central African Republic 2-1, and drew 2-2 and 0-0 with Congo and South Sudan respectively. It took a drawing of lots by the Confederation of African Football to separate Uganda and Congo and determine the winner of Group B, as both teams finished with the same statistics.

Meanwhile, the Flying Eagles will be without the services of team captain Daniel Bameyi due

to accumulation of two yellow cards. The defender was cautioned twice in the group games against Senegal and Mozambique.

In the other quarter-final games, nine-pointer The Gambia will take on fresh birds South Sudan, who shocked Central African Republic 1-0 and drew 0-0 with Uganda to finish in third place in Group B with four points. Their only defeat was a 1-2 reverse against Congo. The match will hold at the Haras El-Hedood Stadium in Alexandria on Friday.

On Thursday, before the Flying Eagles take on Uganda in Ismailia, Group A winners Senegal will tango with Benin Republic at the Cairo International Stadium. The Young Cheetahs finished in third place in Group C with

only two points having drawn with Zambia and Tunisia, but unlucky to concede an own goal two minutes to the end of their encounter with group winners The Gambia on Monday.

The last quarter-final duel is between Congo and Tunisia, at the Cairo International Stadium on Friday evening. The North Africans pulled their weight to defeat Zambia 2-1 on Monday, after having lost 0-1 to The Gambia and drawing 0-0 with Benin Republic earlier in Group C.

All four winners will advance to the semi-finals of the competition, but more importantly, qualify to represent Africa at the FIFA U20 World Cup finals in Indonesia.

He will also be absent as Graham Potter’s struggling side look to improve their dismal league form, including Saturday’s home Premier League game against Leeds United Chelsea are 14 points from the top four and have only won twice in their past 15 games in all competitions.

Silva signed a one-year contract extension this month, which will keep him at Chelsea until summer 2024. He will also be absent as Graham Potter’s struggling side look to improve their dismal league form, including Saturday’s home Premier League game against Leeds United Chelsea are 14 points from the top four and have only won twice in their past 15 games in all competitions.

U-20 AFCON: Bosso confident his charges will neutralize Uganda

The Flying Eagles before departing Cairo for Ismailia on Friday last week.

NFF President congratulates Balele, Ubah, Adams on national assembly victories

President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau on Tuesday sent messages of congratulation to three prominent members of the Nigeria Football family who were triumphant in the national elections held at the weekend.

Alhaji Aminu Balele Kurfi, the Chairman of the Katsina State Football Association and who is also Chairman of the NFF Committee on Youth Competitions, was elected to the House of Representatives from the Dutsin-ma/Kurfi Federal Constituency of Katsina State on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

Running on the platform of Labour Party, the General Manager of Remo Stars Football Club (a Nigeria Premier Football League team), Mr. Ekene Abubakar Adams beat all other contestants to win a seat to the House of Representatives from the Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency of Kaduna State.

Also elected was the Proprietor of FC IfeanyiUbah and former Member of the Organizing Committee for the Africa Cup of Nations, Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah. Ubah returns to the Senate of the Federal Republic having won the Anambra South Senatorial District under the flag of Young Peoples’ Party, YPP.

“We are happy at the triumphs of these members of the Nigeria Football family. We heartily congratulate them and wish them the very best as they become Federal legislators, with the opportunities to initiate legislation that will favour football and other sectors of Nigerian life.

“We will continue to pray for them so that God will give them the wisdom, knowledge and understanding to work assiduously for the development and real growth of Nigeria Football while in the 10th session of the National Assembly.”

France FA President Noel Le Graet resigns

French Football Federation (FFF) boss, Noel Le Graet has resigned amid misconduct including sexual harassment and a damning audit, the federation said on Tuesday.

Le Graet, head of the FFF since 2011, had taken a step back amid a legal investigation into alleged sexual and moral harassment and a damning audit commissioned by the sports ministry.

ESPN reports that earlier this month, the audit concluded that Le Graet, 81, no longer had “the necessary legitimacy” to administer and represent the sport in France and “highlighted the inappropriate behaviour of Mr Le Graet towards women.”

Le Graet has denied any wrongdoing.

“Noel Le Graet announced... to the Executive Committee of the French Football Federation his decision to step down from

Glazers’ Family divided over Manchester United sale

Less than 48 hours after they won their first trophy in six years, Manchester United owners are hugely divided over the planned sale of the club Reports in England indicate Avram Glazer and his brother Joel are reluctant to cede Manchester United, in contrast to their siblings; Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe are only public bidders, and their offers fall short of £6bn asking price

The executive co-chairman and his brother Joel are reluctant to cede United, in contrast to their siblings Kevin, Edward, Bryan and Darcie - a position hardened by “underwhelming indicative offers”.

The Glazers expected more interest to be registered to The Raine Group by their soft deadline for proposals on February 17. Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe are the only public bidders, and their tenders fall short of the £6bn being targeted.

his position,” the FFF said in a statement.

“Philippe Diallo, vicepresident, will act as interim president of the FFF until June 10, 2023, the date of the next federal assembly.”

Le Graet had also come under fire from players and politicians for criticising French World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane.

He was criticised for extending France coach Didier Deschamps’ contract until 2026, two years after his term at the head of the FFF expires.

However, sources have told ESPN that Le Graet has been chosen by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to run the governing body’s Paris office.

French football has been in turmoil recently, despite the national side reaching their fourth World Cup final in the past seven editions of the tournament,

losing to Argentina in Qatar last December.

The French women’s team coach, Corinne Diacre, has also been under fire after captain Wendie Renard said last week she would not play at this year’s Women’s World Cup.

According to a report in French outlet RMC Sport, Renard

said she will not play for the national side as long as Diacre is in charge.

Fellow internationals MarieAntoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani also said they were taking a step back from the national team.

Diacre’s fate as manager would be decided on March 9 by a select committee.

Sky Sports reports that formal offers would need to be significantly increased to tempt the Glazers into an outright sale. Their feeling is that United’s stature, pull around the globe especially in emerging markets and potential for future growth revenue has been underestimated. This is even factoring in the club’s net debt of £656m, transfer fees owed and the enormous cost of enhancing the infrastructure.

Avram Glazer, who was in the company of Sir Alex Ferguson as a six-year wait for a trophy was ended in Carabao Cup final victory over Newcastle, has previously said the process to explore strategic alternatives is “not necessarily a sale.”

The club’s statement on the matter ended with the kicker that “there can be no assurance that the review being undertaken will result in any transaction involving the company”.

As recently as October, Ratcliffe revealed the Glazers “do not want to sell”.

Sources say that the market has been slightly misread after the scale of interest when Chelsea was available to buy in contrasting circumstances.

The Qatari businessman would have liked to attend the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday but he felt it was not appropriate under the circumstances. Instead, the Sheikh watched the game at home with his friends and family.

He believes he has made a very good offer for the club, with the prospective buyer from Qatar keen to invest in the club, the infrastructure and the community.

The Sheikh is waiting to hear back from the Raine Group for a

response to his opening indicative offer. The bidders are expecting an update on the opening part of the bidding process from the New York group this week.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe also remains determined to buy Manchester United and is totally committed

to his bid.

He wants to buy the club for the right reasons and to run it in the right way. The INEOS owner also believes he has made a very good offer which will turn the club into a model of progressive, fancentred ownership.

This is also evident in John W Henry announcing Fenway Sports Group would retain control of Liverpool and only investment is currently being considered.

United fans made their stance clear even amid the joy of Sunday’s win. “We want Glazers out” was the most consistent chant at Wembley.

Sheikh Jassim is still determined to buy United off the Glazers

Ubah, Bale and Adams won National Assembly Elections on Saturday

U-20 AFCON: Egypt Coach Accuses Nigeria, Senegal of Age Cheat

It was about the same time in 2015 that we had the Orubebe outburst; an outright attempt at the soul of the national electoral process, an attempt to scuttle everything the moment the then ruling party knew it had lost the presidential election to the candidate of the APC. The same scenario is playing itself out, just like it was eight years ago. It is obvious that the PDP situation room had done all the permutations and repermutation and has come to the conclusion that there is no realistic pathway to victory any longer for its presidential candidate except a disruption of the entire process.

defend the fake result.

By Amaechi Agbo

Egyptian coach, Ehab

Gala has accused Nigeria and Senegal of parading overaged players at the ongoing 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON in Egypt.

The Egyptian goalkeeper trainer made the accusation after his side lost 1-0 to Nigeria and were pummeled 4-0 by Senegal at the group stage of the tournament which finally ended their hope of going further in the competition.

In an interview with Senegalese news channel Wiwsports, Galal singled out Nigeria’s defender Solomon Agbalaka, who scored the only goal of the match against them, as one of the overage players.

“Most African teams have players who are over the age required to be able to play this competition. These teams have many players with fake ages.

“The Senegalese goalkeeper, for example, seems older, as well as Nigeria’s number 3 player who seems to be old, and other Nigerian players.

“The African Cup of Nations is completely different from the Arab Championship in terms of strength, and we registered players into the tournament late, especially since the national team did not play many matches to prepare before its start.” he was quoted

Hosts Egypt crashed out of the AFCON U-20 after playing just one draw against Mozambique and lost to Nigeria and Senegal.

Both Nigeria and Senegal qualified for the quarterfinal which will commence on Thursday

I am also not surprised at the choice of Dino for the august assignment; his personality has been a blend of a street thug, desperate politician and a melodrama, a Nollywood-wannabe without both the capacity for and virtue of shame. This tells us why he is unaware of the shameful implication of the act he puts up at the nationally and internationally observed election collation center.

Except we want to play hide and seek with the truth, it is only an unserious political party that would not run an election situation room; and the situation room would be ahead of everyone or group, have access to all results across the entire polling units in the country in the most professional manner. Every party, serious ones, must have done its tabulation and know where it stands. We are all at the National Collation Center to confirm the data already at our disposal - as a serious political party. Every party is at liberty to object to any final result that departs from information already at their disposal. PDP can do that, and that is exactly what it would have done if the results were going its way. But as a loser, it would choose the path we are all witnessing.

Why then is PDP so desperate to have the INEC server open and operational? I can guess. In 2019, PDP breached the sanctity of the INEC server and even went ahead to swear an affidavit to the extent of having access to information from the server at the tribunal. If we all remember, we had a parallel election result circulating in the country immediately after the postponement of the 2019 election and before the rescheduled date of the same. The explanation is simple; PDP and its presidential candidate perfected a plan to hack the server and upload a prepared result which backfired, though the party went ahead in the attempt to

The only reason PDP would be so desperate to have the INEC server opened up and operational now would be because the party is up to its game again; to upload another prepared result and create an integrity issue for both the electoral process, the results, and the election umpire. This is despite the publicly accessible report of INEC chairman in 2022 that collation of election results will be manually conducted as provided for in the 2022 Electoral Act.

It is so unfortunate that we would lose our rationality as a people. At the expense of national peace, we choose religion, ethnicity and hatred against individuals and groups as the index of our responses to public issues including the ongoing electoral process. It baffles me and would continue to do so how on earth we would be talking of APC rigging an election where the party lost embarrassingly in critical strongholds: the presidential candidate lost his own state, the president and the leader of the party lost his own state, the party chairman lost his state, Ganduje, a sitting governor lost his state, El-Rufai a sitting governor lost his state, and even the campaign coordinator lost both his state and his senatorial bid; yet, APC rigged the same election; how does that add up? The party could not rig in Lagos but is rigging in Benue, a core PDP state. Can’t we just stop these?

It appears to these elements who are becoming bent on discrediting the process that wherever APC lost, the election was free and fair; but compromised where it won.

I have listened to clerics, who should be on their knees interceding for the peace of the country, instigating the people to an uprising, perhaps, because the candidate they supported is losing the election. I have read the letter by former President Olusegun Obasanjo; these are all people who openly cast their support for the candidate of the Labour Party, and now would not care if the country boils because their preferred candidate is losing. Let it be known that there are more rational

Nigerians than those attempting to foment crisis and we would hold them responsible, regardless of their status or station if their unguarded utterance results in any form of crisis now or in the immediate future.

These are the same people who championed the non-existing islamisation stories in the past and created a crisis for the nation till today; it is the same people who weaponised religion for as long as they could in an attempt to win the 2023 elections; pitching religions against one another. And with that, they still failed as discerning Nigerians saw through it and never fell for their antics.

The same Obasanjo who coordinated all the worst elections we have had in this country; the same Obasanjo who blatantly declared, and is on public record that the 2003 election is ‘a do or die affair’ and forced INEC to announce a winner even when compilations of results were still underway; the same Obasanjo, under whose watch election results were writing in sitting rooms as per instructions; under whose watch bloated election figures were the order of the day; that same hypocritical Obasanjo that is now suddenly claiming to understand the way of election integrity.

It is obvious the only result of the 2023 election that would be pleasing to Obasanjo and the team of clergies who sold their souls on the altars of mammon, religious sentiment and tribal affinity, would be the emergence of Peter Obi as president-elect who is more likely to come a distant third position.

Well, they can stir up the polity as much as they like; but the crisis they so much thirst for to express solidarity for their politically handicapped candidate will not happen. Too many Nigerians know the truth and will oppose them and rightly so. They seem to have forgotten that the millions that give the votes that are making them to cry now are also Nigerians; and are they not in the majority as the latest election figures already show?

Obviously, their days are numbered. Recall, they played the same game in 2015, 2019 and now again in 2023; they are

abusing their positions as leaders of thought, and Nigerians would place them henceforth where they rightly belong. Thankfully, former president Abdusalami Abubakar has lent his stately voice to Nigerians by suing for peace in these uncertain times without mincing words; unlike others whose utterances, expressions and contexts apparently thirst for political crises for the nation.

We are calling on more wellmeaning Nigerians to lend their voices like the Inter-party Advisory Committee, the umbrella body of registered political parties in Nigeria that recently issued a press release to affirm its confidence and satisfaction over the conduct of the 25th February 2023 elections and an appeal to peace. While dispute is not unexpected in a democracy, particularly election dispute, there are laid down procedures for addressing them including the claim of election rigging which is easy to debunk if really there are substantial incidence of such.

If you see APC losing in stream in its strongholds and your blackened sentimental minds refuse to accept reality; if your utmost concern is not to be leaders who turn their followers from wrong conducts, perceptions and emotional conclusion based on parochial conclusions, then you have no right to be respected any longer as one with the interest of Nigeria. And I think it is high time we started exhuming and paying keen attention to the conduct, utterances and expressions of those who enjoy the privileges of democracy and to determine whether they are true democrats who play by the universal rules of democracy.

GOD BLESS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA!