THEWILL NEWSPAPER March 05, 2023

WhenI got the call for an exclusive interview with Hairat Balogun, OON, the first female Attorney general of Lagos state, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. But getting to meet her, I realised she is a very kind but firm societal elder. She seemed to strike the right balance; evident in our conversation and her making jokes about coming to the office so she could fight with her son, Afolabi. All of these were well and good, but what struck me is how at 81 years old, she still wakes up, gets dressed and comes to work, arriving before her son and partner.

It reminded me of my grandmother. She was up at 5.30am every day and showered before 7.00am. She was also 80-something at the time. You’d see her taking walks around the property, examining all sorts of leaves and plants in our home. She went on to live till she was 110 years old and still got up early till she was in her late 90s.

The discipline they had could have also originated from their foundation. Their parents taught them to be up bright and early and go straight to school or the farm and work as they grew up.

Day after day, they did this until a routine was established. No wonder the bible says to teach a child the way he should go, and when he is grown, he will not depart from it. So ingrained in their system it became that, as TheWill DOWNTOWN cover personality this week said, “I don’t know anything else.”

Does not waking up early determine how disciplined a worker you are?

It’s different for some these days— this does not apply to people who have regular hours; it’s more to techy guys who work all night and so have to sleep in the next day.

In a situation like that, it’s a clear-cut case of change in times, and as such, not waking up early doesn’t necessarily mean you are unserious. It is, in fact, the opposite with the techies because they are making the cool bucks while others are snoozing away.

Until next week, enjoy your read.

OnahNwachukwu

Editor, THEWILL DOWNTOWN @onahluciaa +2349088352246

Photo:

March 11 Poll: Governorship Candidates on Shaky Ground

• All Eyes on Delta, Lagos, Oyo, Cross River, Akwa Ibom

BY AMOS ESELE WITH REPORTS FROM AYO ESAN, UKANDI ODEY, SAMPSON UHUEGBU AND SUNDAY OGBU

Some state governors are having sleepless nights and marching on slippery ground to the upcoming March 11 Governorship and House of Assembly Elections, following last week’s unexpected outcome of the Presidential and National Assembly poll in many states, THEWILL has learnt.

States that were previously believed to be traditional no-go areas for rival political parties witnessed an unprecedented upset when the results, amid disruptions, were released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after polling last Sunday through Wednesday.

Lagos State was one big example where the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), now President-elect Bola Tinubu, had been holding sway since his time as Governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007.

Labour Party’s candidate in the presidential election, Peter Obi, pulled a shocking first-ever overwhelming victory in the state with popular votes of 582,454 against Tinubu’s 572,606 votes, although the latter was victorious in eight out of 20 local government areas.

Plateau, another APC governed state, fell to LP where Obi scored 466, 272 votes while Tinubu got 307, 195 votes and the PDP’s Atiku scored 243, 808 votes.

Nasarawa, the home-state of the National Chairman of the governing APC, Abdullahi Adamu, also fell to the LP. The party got 191,361 votes to 172,922 votes for APC and 147, 093 to PDP.

Understandably, the five states in the South-East geopolitical zones where Obi comes from, namely Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo, were too ripe for plucking as LP won in all of them almost by 100 per cent. Two of the states in the geo-political zone, Anambra and Imo, are among the seven states in the country that are scheduled for off-season elections. The others are Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Kogi, Ondo and Osun States.

Another aspect of this governorship challenge is currently playing out in Oyo State. There, Governor Seyi Makinde, one of the aggrieved G-5 governors of the PDP who failed to support the party’s presidential candidate but openly showed his preference for Tinubu when the latter paid him a courtesy visit during electioneering, is facing the battle of his life for a second term in office. Because of this open support for Tinubu, his party expectedly lost its three senatorial seats in the state to the APC and eight out of 12 seats in

the House of Representatives that were previously in the PDP’s grasp. Now the losers and many members of the party are baying for the governor’s blood, vowing not to support his re-election bid on March 11.

Makinde’s example is a classic case of history repeating itself, yet providing no lesson for the participants. In 2019, when as a greenhorn, he ran for and won the governorship election in Oyo on the ticket of PDP, he did so on the resounding victory of Atiku in the state.

As presidential candidate of the PDP in that year’s election, Atiku had out-shined the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari in Oyo. The performance gave politicians and power brokers in the state a platform to further their ambition. Led by a former governor of the state, Alao Akala, the stakeholders who were formerly from the PDP family but had splintered into rival parties and camps in the state decided to come together and give their support to Makinde, in the event that their support would enable them to seize control of the structure and power in the state from the Abiola Ajimobi-led APC government. Makinde emerged the winner of the election.

Now his romance with Tinubu and the loss suffered by members of the National Assembly in his party, some PDP leaders in Oyo are looking to team up with his rival to work against his second-term bid.

...Governorship Candidates on Shaky Ground

With these victories by the LP that just emerged on the political scene long monopolised by the PDP and APC, many state governors are said to be sitting on edge and waiting anxiously for March 11 to blow over.

ROADBLOCKS ON THE WAY

Voter apathy, already a source of concern given that a little over 22 million out of 87 eligible million voters voted in last week’s poll, is one major challenge that may make or mar the governorship ambitions of contestants on March 11, according to the THEWILL investigation.

Many voters are beginning to fear that their votes may not count, considering the shoddy and controversial manner by which INEC collated the results of last week’s presidential election in clear violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, which supports electronic transfer of results from the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to the Commission’s election portal.

The electorate have gone back to their pre-2023 stand on lack of confidence in INEC and the electoral process. A case in point, which symbolises the depth of voter apathy is found in popular slogans currently making the rounds in the South-East. “Let them eat their March 11,” is what many voters whose views were sampled by this newspaper are saying. A double-edged sword, apathy has a way of giving a field day to the enemy when loyal supporters of a preferred candidate stay away from elections.

HOW THEY STAND LAGOS: APC/LP/PDP

The state is too close to call considering the outcome of the presidential election where the Labour Party shocked the ruling APC and pundits to clinch victory.

Governor Babjide Sanwo-Olu is taking nothing for granted, although his chances have been brightened by his political godfather, Tinubu’s victory in last Saturday’s presidential election. But with the BVAS, there may be no cast iron certainty. Joe Igbokwe, Special Adviser for Drainage and Water Resources to Sanwo-Olu, maintained that the governor would clinch the governorship election in the state convincingly. He told THEWILL on Friday night that the Igbo in Lagos have been well mobilised to vote for Sanwo-Olu, but dismissed the notion that the same ethnic group had swung the vote in Obi’s favour at the presidential poll.

“Don’t look at what happened at the presidential poll. It was a combination of factors that had no ethnic bias. We are working seriously towards Governor Sanwo-Olu’s victory," Igbokwe said.

The LP candidate, the youthful Gbadebo RhodesVivour may carry the day if the popular Obidient Movement rallies and shows up to vote.

Another candidate to watch is the PDP's Olajide Adediran, aka, Jandor.

OYO: PDP/APC

Given the background to political alignment in Oyo, Governor Seyi Makinde faces a tough hurdle as the APC governorship candidate, Senator Folarin, has been strengthened by Tinubu and APC's victories at the presidential and national assembly polls, winning all three senatorial districts in the state and eight seats in the House of Reps.

On Thursday about 190,000 supporters of the PDP in the state declared their support for Folarin under the aegis of the PDP Vanguard and made this known in a statement on their official Twitter account @ pdpvanguard last Wednesday.

The statement read: “It is essential that every eligible voter in Oyo State exercises his right to vote. The importance of this cannot be overstated, as every single vote counts and can make a significant difference in the outcome of the election.

“Folarin is the answer!”

But on Friday, a pro-Bola Tinubu group pledged its support for Makinde, stating that it had 320,000 supporters to work for his victory at the coming governorship poll.

OGUN: APC

Although former Governor Ibikunle Amosun is supporting Dr Olubiyi Otegbeye of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) the incumbent Governor Dapo Abiodun looks set to return for a second term, courtesy of the massive support from all stakeholders in the state, including the traditional council of chiefs, business and corporate interests in the state.

ABIA: LP/PDP

A traditional stronghold of the PDP, the almost 100 per cent performance of Obi during the presidential election has given a boost to the LP. It is going to be a straight fight if its apathetic supporters, still sulking from the disappointing outcome of the presidential election, decide to vote.

EBONYI: APC

The pre-election violence allegedly unleashed by functionaries of the APC-controlled Ebonyi State Government has cowed the party's rivals and created fear among the electorate in the state. This may create an atmosphere of uncertainty that the APC would exploit to its advantage.

“

ENUGU: PDP/LP/APGA

PDP is banking on its past glory as the only party in Enugu State for 23 years, but Obi’s triumph at the presidential poll in the state has put LP on the track of possible victory. Lurking dangerously around and ready to pounce is former Minister for Information, Frank Nweke Jr. who is running on the platform of APGA.

AKWA IBOM: PDP/APC

The APC candidate, Obong Akanimo Udofia is frontally taking on Pastor Umo Eno and the PDP, the party that has governed the state since 1999. The victory of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in the Presidential election and the triumph of Senator Godswill Akpabio in the Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District poll held on February 25, 2023, has energized the APC base. Can the party pull out an upset?

CROSS RIVER: APC/ PDP/LP

Senator Bassey Otu of the APC, Professor Sandy Eno of the PDP and Ernest Jose, the LP candidate are the frontline candidates in the state’s governorship election. Peter Obi’s victory in the Presidential election in the state has put the LP in contention. THEWILL however believes it will narrow to a two-horse race (APC vs PDP) by March 11, 2023.

DELTA: PDP/APC/LP

The popularity of the LP in the state, as reflected in Obi’s commanding performance at the presidential poll has put the party in a hot contest with the PDP and APC. Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege is the candidate of the APC, while Speaker, House of Assembly, Sheriff Oborevwori is the PDP candidate. Ken Pela, the dark horse in the race, represents the LP. PDP stakeholders who supported the LP in the presidential election because of their dislike of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa are closing ranks to save the party from another humiliation in the poll. The contest is however too close to call as at the time of writing.

RIVERS: PDP/APC/LP

Siminalayi Fubara, the candidate of the ruling PDP is the frontrunner because of the dominance and hostility of Governor Nyesom Wike. However, Tonye Cole of the APC and Beatrice Itubo, LP, may swing an upset with the correct use of BVAS and electronic transmission of results at the polling units.

PLATEAU: LP/PDP/APC

The Labour Party Governorship candidate, Dr. Patrick Dakum, is hoping the winning streak of his party in the presidential election in the state would continue and give him victory, but the PDP candidate, Barrister Caleb Mutsfwang, is hopeful on the agreement reached by PDP leaders in the state that while they vote Peter Obi, the LP presidential candidate in last Saturday’s election, the PDP would be voted for in the governorship poll. Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda of the APC is fighting to retain the state for the party.

KADUNA: PDP

The two top contenders in the forthcoming governorship election in Kaduna State are the APC candidate, Senator Uba Sani and PDP’s Isah Ashiru. The PDP won the presidential election beating the APC by over 150, 000 votes.

KANO: NNPP

The governorship election in Kano State will be a close contest between the NNPP and the ruling APC. It may be a close race between Kabir-Yusuf of the NNPP and Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC). However, Abba Kabir-Yusuf of the NNPP is the most favoured to win the election.

In the last presidential election, the NNPP led by Rabiu Kwankwaso recorded a landslide win and may consolidate by winning the governorship election.

Makinde’s example is a classic case of history repeating itself, yet providing no lesson for the participants. In 2019, when as a greenhorn, he ran for and won the governorship election in Oyo on the ticket of PDP, he did so on the resounding victory of Atiku in the state. As presidential candidate of the PDP in that year’s election, Atiku had out-shined the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari in Oyo. The performance gave politicians and power brokers in the state a platform to further their ambition

Plateau Citizens Agree to Vote PDP Guber Candidate – Group

Asocio-political lobby group, Movement for the Liberation of Plateau State, has hinted, ahead of the March 11 Governorship Election that residents of the state are unanimous in their resolve and determination to vote for the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Caleb Mutfwang, come Election Day.

This resolve is coming on the heels of the impressive performance of the PDP in last Saturday's Presidential and National Assembly elections.

The group has, accordingly, urged the people to come out en masse and vote for the PDP governorship candidate for the protection and liberation of the state from bondage and the clutches of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).

Electoral Act Did Not Mandate INEC to Transmit Results Electronically – APC-PCC

The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC), on Friday, said the new Electoral Act 2022 (as amended) did not mandate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to transmit election results electronically.

The Council maintained that the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System ( BVAS) machine performed optimally contrary to the claim by Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Media and Communication Adviser of the APC-PCC, Dele Alake, made the declaration at a press conference held in Abuja on Friday.

Alake's reaction followed claims by Atiku and the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, that while the BVAS was compromised, the electoral umpire breached provisions of the Electoral Act by its failure to post election results to INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV).

According to Alake, the Electoral Act 2022 did not contain any mandatory provision regarding the transmission of results. He faulted the PDP presidential candidate's claim to victory in last Saturday's presidential election, as he noted that the exit of Peter Obi from the PDP, who eventually emerged as LP candidate, dealt a fatal blow to Atiku’s aspiration.

He said: “The claim that INEC did not use the BVAS is false. Those who voted across Nigeria, including Atiku and Obi, were accredited by BVAS. Save for the bad losers that these two people have proven to be, we should rather be celebrating the tremendous improvement the use of BVAS has brought to our electoral process.

“The complaint over the electronic transmission of the result is not supported by law.

“Section 38 of the Electoral Acct 2022 referred to by the PDP and LP has nothing to do with transmission of election results. Section 60, subsection 2 of the Act deals with transmission of results and it is at the discretion of INEC. The Act does not contain any mandatory provision regarding the transmission of

results.

“In any case, the process of transmitting results from polling units, whether realtime, two days later or at any time, cannot in any way change the results that have been announced right after the counting in the presence of the parties’ agents and to the hearing of the voters.

“It is, therefore, nonsensical to insinuate that time variation in uploading results would cause a change in the figures.

“The 2023 Presidential election is a watershed as it produced unprecedented outcomes and defied conventions. The deployment and use of BVAS is the only reason the elections produced these strange outcomes and upsets in many cases.

"The loss of Katsina and Lagos to PDP and LP respectively were contrary to expectations.

"BVAS brought the intended credibility to voters’ accreditation such that many Governors and well-established politicians lost elections in what should be safe bet areas.

"The era of ghost-voting and stuffing of ballot boxes is gone. As the experience in the last governorship election in Osun State has shown, over-voting would automatically lead to outright cancellation of the results of the polling units based on the provision of the new Electoral Act.

"The same PDP that is trying to pull the wool across the face of Nigerians was the culprit in the Osun State governorship election. Did they try to do it this time and it failed? Or did they do it in the areas they unexpectedly won? Did they have a grand plan to hack the INEC server if results were uploaded in real-time? Nigerians will soon find out.

“Contrary to the false claims of Atiku and Obi, the reasons for losing the elections were foretold. Besides the delusional expectations created during the campaigns to hoodwink the public, most PDP leaders knew their party had been decimated by Mr. Peter Obi.

•Continues online at www.thewillnigeria.com

Allow Atiku, Obi to Inspect Presidential Election Materials – Court Tells INEC

The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Friday, granted the separate ex parte application filed by Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his counterpart in the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, seeking permission to inspect the electoral materials for Saturday’s presidential election.

Atiku and Obi had separately approached the court with two different ex-parte motions filed at the Presidential Election Court (PEC) secretariat on March 1 and March 2, 2023, respectively.

Both motions have the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and two others as respondents.

Counsel to Atiku, Adedamola Faloku, prayed the Court to grant the ex parte application brought before it pursuant to Section 146 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022, Paragraph 47 (1, 2 &3) of the first Schedule of the Electoral Act of 2022 and under the inherent jurisdiction of the Court as referenced by Section 6 (6) A & B of the 1999 Constitution.

The application sorts seven prayers predicated on six grounds.

The Counsel also informed the Court that a schedule of the documents to interrogate the respondent (INEC) was contained in an 18-paragraph application supported and a 12-paragraph affidavit filed before the court on March 1, 2023.

Counsel to the applicant adopted all the averments contained in the affidavit and urged the Court to grant the application.

The presiding Judge, Justice Joseph Ikyegh, granted the request of the applicant.

Similarly, the Court also heard the ex parte application brought by Obi urging it to grant the application for hearing.

Counsel to Obi, Alex Ejeseme (SAN), had brought before the Court, an ex parte application pursuant to Section 86 (1) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Section 146 of the Electoral Act 2022 and paragraphs 47 (1 and 54) of the first Schedule of the Electoral Act 2022 under the inherent jurisdiction of the Court.

Chairman of the Group, Simon Dung, and the Secretary, Peter Zita, in a press statement in Jos, said their decision to support Mutfwang of the PDP was borne out of a need for freedom and unity, as well as to place the state firmly on the path of steady growth, development and rediscovery.

The statement said, "It is on record that the performance of the PDP) in last Saturday's National Assembly elections has left no one in doubt that Plateau is a PDP state. The party needs the support of all patriotic citizens in Plateau State to win the March 11 governorship election to end the APC misgovernance in the state.

"It is heartwarming to note that based on the official results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the PDP won Plateau North and Plateau South Senatorial seats and 5 out of the 8 seats for the House of Representatives in the state.

"Information available to us shows that the PDP is coasting to victory at the Plateau Central Senatorial election, whose result is yet to be announced by the INEC due to alleged incidents of overvoting and mutilation of results sheets brought from one of the Local Government Areas.

"It is on this account that a Coalition of Plateau citizens under the aegis of ‘Movement for the Liberation of Plateau’, reviewed the outcome of the last election and decided to settle down for the PDP Governorship candidate, Barr. Caleb Mutfwang. We appeal to all patriotic residents of Plateau State to put behind party and ethnic sentiments and settle down for the PDP in the March election for the prosperity of our state."

According to the group, although the result of the presidential election as announced by INEC does not reflect the desire and expectations of Nigerians, there is a need for plateau citizens to come out en masse and support the PDP candidate to end the self-centred APC administration that has caused several setbacks for the state.

"We wish to encourage all Plateau citizens and other ethnic nationalities resident in Plateau that the time has come for us to be united and take political decisions with regard to who will lead us in the next four years. We cannot afford to divide ourselves ahead of the next election. Enough of the APC misrule in Plateau," it concluded.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo SAN, (4th right), receives in audience the FCT disabled Community at the State House , Abuja. March 2, 2023.

FROM UKANDI ODEY, JOS

POLITICS

No-Win Situation For G-5 Governors, PDP

BY AYO ESAN

The February 25, 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections have come and gone. The winners are now savouring their victories, popping champagne and beating their chests, while the losers are still shell-shocked and wondering what they did wrong or failed to do to deserve the trouncing they got in the elections.

One Group that may not forget the outcome of the elections in a hurry is the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) aggrieved governors who styled themselves the G-5 governors and who, with other aggrieved members of the main opposition party formed what is called the ‘Integrity Group’.

The G-5 Governors led by the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, also include Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Okezie Ikpeazu, Seyi Makinde and Samuel Ortom of Enugu, Abia, Oyo and Benue States, respectively.

These governors who opposed the emergence of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the party and the retaining of Senator Iyorchia Ayu as the National Chairman of the PDP said they would not leave the party but fight within to register their displeasure with the national leadership of the party over the concentration of the two key positions in the Northern part of the country.

They had demanded that, for the purpose of fairness and all-inclusiveness, Ayu should relinquish his position as Chairman for a southerner to balance the top positions in the PDP.

As part of their resolutions, they vowed not to support Atiku’s presidential aspiration and to distance themselves from the party’s presidential campaign.

Every attempt to broker peace between the G-5 governors and the PDP leadership fell on their deaf ears as the governors insisted on Ayu’s resignation, saying that it was the only condition that could make

“Three members of the G-5 Governors lost out in the race for the Senate and Atiku lost to the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in the presidential election

them change their position.

In the last Presidential and National Assembly election, it was a no - win situation for the G-5 Governors and the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. Three members of the G-5 Governors lost out in the race for the Senate and Atiku lost to the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in the presidential election.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who announced the final results last Wednesday in Abuja, said Atiku Abubakar of the PDP came second in the election. Atiku polled a total of 6,984,520 votes in the election which was lower than Tinubu’s scored 8,794,726 votes.

It would be recalled that some of the G-5 Governors had publicly declared that they would vote for other party’s presidential candidates in the last election.

In fact, their leader, Wike, promised that they would openly announce their preferred candidate for the presidential election. This didn’t manifest until the penultimate Saturday’s election.

However, one of them, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State openly announced that he was backing the Labour Party’s candidate, Peter Obi in the presidential election. Also, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde was said to have an unwritten agreement with the APC Presidential Candidate, Bola Tinubu to support him in the election.

Political observers and analysts had severally warned these governors about the negative implication of not supporting Atiku who was the standard bearer of their party in the election and they believed it could affect their chances in the election.

Three of the G-5 governors namely, Ortom, Igwuanyi and Ikpeazu, contested in the National Assembly Election and the result showed that all three lost to their opponenets.

Makinde is probably licking the wounds which the election inflicted on his party. The PDP did not only lose in the presidential election but also it lost the three senatorial districts in Oyo and many seats in the House of Representatives to the APC.

Makinde will be on the ballot on Saturday to contest for a second term in office. But he is having a hard time at the moment trying to convince PDP candidates in Oyo who lost in the NASS election that he did not trade them off to the APC.

Most of them and their supporters are still bitter and may not give their all to him in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

The APC’s triumph in the presidential and national

POLITICS

...Situation For G-5 Governors, PDP

Continued from Page 9

assembly elections in Oyo has also buoyed the confidence of its governorship candidate, Senator Teslim Folarin and the party’s state assembly candidates ahead of the election.

They have openly disclosed that the party has no agreement or accord with Makinde and urged their members to come out and vote for APC on Saturday.

Ortom lost the election for the Benue North-West Senatorial seat to his former aide, Titus Zam, of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Zam, who was Ortom’s Special Adviser on Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs from 2015 to 2017, scored 143,151 votes to defeat the governor who polled 106,882 votes.

Ortom, a former Minister of State for Trade and Investments, is rounding up his second term as governor of Benue. He has been very vociferous, especially about issues of insecurity in parts of the state.

While reacting to his loss in the national assembly election, the governor in a terse statement issued last Monday by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Terver Akase, said he has received the official results and that it would be scrutinized.

Akase said, “His Excellency, Governor Samuel Ortom has received the result of the 2023 Benue North West Senatorial election. He will study the result and respond appropriately.”

Another sitting governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, also lost his bid to return to the National Assembly. It was clearly an upset, especially in a state where the PDP had dominated party politics since the return of democracy from military rule in 1999.

The Enugu State governor was defeated in the election for Enugu North Senatorial District by Barr Okey Ezea of the Labour Party. Announcing the result, Returning Officer for the election, Chukwuemeka Ubaka, said Ezea polled 104,492 votes to defeat Ugwuanyi of the PDP, who got 46,948 votes.

Ezea had contested in the Enugu governorship election on the platform of the APC in 2015, the same year Ugwuanyi was elected for the first time as governor of the state.

Ugwuanyi had served in the House of Reps for 12 years, as a representative of Igbo-Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency before he became governor.

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, who is rounding up his second term in office, would have joined the league of former governors in the senate if he had succeeded at the February 25, 2023 polls. He was defeated at the poll by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, a former Chief Minority Whip in the Senate, who has been representing Abia South Senatorial District since 2007.

Abaribe ran on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and succeeded in polling 49,903 votes to beat Ikpeazu who belongs to the PDP.

In the results announced by INEC’s Returning Officer for Abia South National Assembly election, Prof Georgina Ugwuanyi, the Labour Party candidate, Chinedu Onyeizu, polled 43, 903 votes, while Ikpeazu got 28,422 votes, to emerge third.

In his reaction to the election result, Ikpeazu said he had no worries over losing the bid, adding that he was grateful to God for the opportunity to complete two terms as governor of Abia.

Ikpeazu noted that the peace and security of the state was more important to him than his senatorial ambition. He however faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission for declaring Abaribe winner of the election in Abia South Senatorial.

The governor, rather than being dejected, appreciated God for the opportunity to govern Abia State for eight years.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, he thanked God that no life was lost in the election as he was not ready to engage in violence or spill blood to win an election. He said, “In elections, you win some and you lose some. It is service and if somehow the opportunity fails to come to you, you thank God for the ones you won. I cannot spill blood for politics. I am a happy man and now focused on the 11th March governorship election.”

Ikpeazu Ortom

Makinde

Ugwuanyi

Ortom lost the election for the Benue North-West Senatorial seat to his former aide, Titus Zam, of the All Progressives Congress (APC)

New Faces in 10th Senate

BY AYO ESAN

With the successful conduct of the National Assembly Election penultimate Saturday by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the outcome of the election is known and the winners have emerged.

It is obvious from the results that many new faces will be seen in the Red Chamber when the 10th Senate is inaugurated in June.

Although some ranking members of the upper legislative chamber lost to relatively unknown opponents in the election, their loss has provided the greenhorns a much-needed opportunity to serve the country to the best of their ability. The new entrants are expected to learn the ropes as they interact with the older and more experienced lawmakers on the floor of the Senate.

THEWILL presents some of the newcomers that will be in the Senate in June:

Idiat Adebule – Lagos West

Oluranti Adebule served as the 15th Deputy Governor of Lagos State and the sixth woman to occupy the office from 2015 to 2019.

Dr Adebule’s political journey started when she was appointed Commissioner 1 in the Lagos State Post Primary Teaching Service Commission (PPTESCOM) now Teachers ‘Establishment and Pensions Office by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu from October 2000 to February 2005 and later as a member of the Lagos State Scholarship Board between February 2005 and November 2005.

She was appointed and sworn in as the Secretary to the State Government by the Governor of Lagos state, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) in July, 2011. She was sworn-in as Deputy Governor of the state on May 29, 2015 by the Chief Justice of Lagos.

She will be replacing Senator Adeola Olamilekan, popularly known as Yayi, who has moved to his homestate Ogun where he has picked the ticket for Ogun West Senatorial District.

Wasiu Eshinlokun – Lagos Central RT .Hon. Wasiu Esinlokun Sanni is a versatile and outstanding politician. He is currently serving a third term as an Honourable member and a second term as the Deputy Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

Gbenga Daniel – Ogun East

Gbenga Daniel was a two-term governor of Ogun State. between 2003 and 2011. He was declared by INEC as

the winner of the Ogun East Senatorial election. He recorded a landslide victory with 115,147 votes to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) candidates, who polled 58,708 and 13,061 votes, respectively.

Daniel, an engineer, will be replacing Senator Olalekan Mustapha. He will be going to the Senate as a greenhorn.

Shuaib Afolabi Salis - Ogun Central Salis won the Ogun Central Senatorial election on February 25, 2023. He is the former Chief of Staff to the state governor. He will be replacing the incumbent Sen. Ibikunle Amosun at the red chamber.

Cyril Fasuyi - Ekiti North

Cyril Fasuyi, who carried the banner of the APC in Ekiti North, won the senatorial election when he polled 54, 224 to defeat the PDP candidate, Funso Ayeni, who scored 39,976.

Fasuyi was the Director General of the Biodun Oyebanji governorship campaign, and he is a new entrant to the upper legislative chamber.

Okey Ezea – Enugu North

Okey Ezea defeated the Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in the Enugu North Senatorial election.

Ezea, who is a lawyer and businessman, holds a Master’s degree in political law from the University of Lagos. He is the Chief Executive Officer, Ideke Shipping Company. He joined politics in 2003, and ran for governorship in 2003 and 2007 in Enugu State. He hails from Igbo Eze South in Enugu State.

Osita Ngwu- Enugu West

Mr. Osita Ngwu emerged the winner of Enugu West senatorial election. Ngwu, who was running for the first time on the platform of the PDP, beat the Labour Senatorial Candidate and member currently representing Udi/Ezeagu Federal Constituency, Dennis Oguerinwa.

Ngwu scored 52,473 votes to beat Amadi, who garnered 48,053 votes. Ngwu, is an engineer and businessman, and holds a bachelor’s degree from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology and Master’s Degree from the Business School of London.

In 2018, he contested on the platform of the PDP to represent Udi/Ezeagu in the House of Representatives. He, however, stepped down on compassionate grounds for the incumbent member, Dennis Amadi. Thereafter, he proceeded to offer his help towards the progress of the PDP in Enugu State.

David Umahi – Ebonyi South

The Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi will be one of the new faces in the Senate when the 10th Senate is inaugurated in June this year.

Continues on Page 12

Adebule

Daniel

Nwokocha

Umahi

It is obvious from the results that many new faces will be seen in the Red Chamber when the 10th Senate is inaugurated in June

POLITICS

New Faces in 10th Senate

Continued from Page 11

The two terms Governor has been declared the winner of Ebonyi South senatorial position.

Declaring the result in Afikpo, headquarters of the zone, Prof. Augustine Ogugua Egwu of Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike Ikwo, the returning officer announced that Umahi polled 28, 378 votes to defeat his closest rival, Linus Okorie of the Labour Party, who scored 25, 496 votes.

The incumbent Senator, Michael Nnachi of the Peoples Democratic Party, scored 11, 398 votes.

Darlington Nwokocha – Abia Central Darlington Nwokocha, a House of Representatives member for Isiala Ngwa North/Isiala Ngwa South Federal Constituency was declared as the winner of the Abia Central Senatorial election.

Nwokocha, who contested on the platform of the Labour Party, LP, defeated his closet rival, Austin Akobundu. Nwokocha will be replacing former governor, Theodore Orji, who had long announced his retirement from active politics after completing his current tenure in office.

Tony Nwoye–Anambra North

In Anambra State, Tony Nwoye, a former House of Reps member, is heading to the Senate for the first time to represent Anambra North constituency after defeating incumbent, Stella Oduah of the PDP. Nwoye ran on the platform of the LP.

Kaduna

The PDP in Kaduna State has recorded a high number of legislators-elect, who will be first time in the Senate. Besides, the party emerged victorious in the three senatorial districts in the state, comprising Kaduna North, Kaduna Central and Kaduna South.

In Kaduna North, Khalid Sabo will be a green horn in the Senate, with Lawal Adamu Usman (Kaduna Central) and Sunday Marshal Kaltung (Kaduna South).

Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli – Oyo South Sharafadeen, a lawyer is the former Chairman, Ibadan North Local Government and former Secretary to the Oyo State Government. He also served as the Chief of Staff to former Governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja when he was in office.

A grassroots politician, Ali is known for his mastery of local politics in Oyo State.

Alli,a former Chairman of Odu’a Investment Company defeated Joseph Tegbe and Kolapo Kola-Daisi, both formerly of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), like him.

The Returning officer, Wole Olatokun, a Professor of the department of Data and Information science, University of Ibadan announced that Alli scored a total of 111,513 votes to defeat all other candidates who contested the election while PDP polled 92,481. Accord garnered 33,641.

Yunus Akintunde - Oyo Central

Dr. Yunus Abiodun Akintunde is a former Commissioner in Oyo State. He served as Isiaka Ajimobi’s Works Commissioner.

Akintunde defeated the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Candidate, Chief Bisi Ilaka, Accord Candidate, Engineer Dotun Nurudeen Faozey and other candidates in the February 25 election.

Fadeyi Oluwole Olubiyi – Osun Central Olubiyi is one of the three newly elected Senatorial candidates in Osun State.

In the last senatorial election, he polled 134,229 votes to defeat the incumbent Senator Ajibola Basiru of the APC. Ajibola is the spokesperson of the 9th Senate.

Olubiyi is not new to the senatorial race. In the 2019 general elections, he was the candidate of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) for Osun Central Senatorial District. He defected to PDP and clinched the senatorial ticket in the state. He is a strategic partner to the Economic European Development Council, Partner to European Market Research Centre, Energy Partner

to Europower, Sport Betting Partner to Luckia Gaming SA and Infrastructure Development partner to China Harbour.

He is an alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University, IleIfe, London School of Economics (LSE) and Harvard Business School (HBS) and Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS).

Lere Oyewunmi – Osun West Oyewumi Kamarudeen Olalere of the PDP won the

Osun West senatorial election and he was the DirectorGeneral of Senator Ademola Adeleke Campaign that led to his emergence as the state governor.

He won the election with 138,476 votes for Osun West Senatorial District. He defeated Dr. Amidu Tadese of the APC.

He is an alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife. He was an employee of the Federal Civil Service of the Ministry of Education as an Education Officer before he retired and joined politics in 1992.

In Nasarawa State, APC National Chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West senatorial zone) and Umaru Al-Makura (Nasarawa South senatorial zone) have lost their senatorial seats to opposition parties.

While Adamu lost to Hon Wadada Aliyu of SDP, Almakura lost his seat to Hon. Onawo Ogoshi of the PDP.

Dr. Samaila Dahuwa (PDP), a former Chairman Bauchi State Hospital Management Board and exCommissioner of Health will be representing Bauchi North Senatorial District. He defeated APC contestant, Ibrahim Sirajo Tanko to claim the seat of the incumbent Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa, who did not contest the seat again. He is going to the senate for the first time.

Ezea

Nwoye

The PDP in Kaduna State has recorded a high number of legislators-elect, who will be first time in the Senate

Deploying Thugs And Technology to Win Elections FEATURES

Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential poll has raised hackles among his opponents who charge that thugs under the auspices of his All Progressives Congress intimidated voters and destroyed voting materials in some polling units. Because of a technical glitch initiated by APC in INEC’s collating system, they also claim, votes were doctored to favour the party. Using thugs to whip people into line during elections, THEWILL finds out, isn’t such a novel idea in politics. Michael

Jimoh reports

“He who controls the streets,” one of the most infamous characters of the 20th century wrote, “controls politics.” At the time Adolf Hitler made his down to earth observation in Mein Kampf (My Struggle) he was languishing in a German jail for treason. Once out of the slammer, the Fuhrer knew exactly what to do to become chancellor of Germany.

Famous for his gift of the gab, Hitler reckoned that his oratorical skill alone wouldn’t be enough to persuade Germans to vote for him. He added some brute force to his rise in German politics through the Brownshirts aka Storm Troopers – a brutish paramilitary group renowned for its “thuggish vigilantism attached to the Nazi Party.”

Of course, the Fuhrer had his way. He won the German Federal election in 1933 with the Brownshirts functioning as “a security force at Nazi rallies and meetings, using threats and outright violence to secure votes and overcome Hitler’s political enemies.” But Hitler’s victory in Germany, his virulent anti-Semitism and subsequent Blitzkrieg in Eastern Europe sent most of the continent into a tailspin culminating in World War 11.

Ninety years after, some analysts are now seeing some similarity of action in Hitler’s Brownshirts and political thugs who disrupted the presidential elections in Nigeria on February 25. And thanks to social media, Nigerians and the rest of the world saw live and direct political thugs carrying out these atrocious acts brazenly as if they didn’t give a hoot, as if nobody – even law enforcement agents – could do nothing about it.

In a video of one such brigandage that has since gone viral, nearly a dozen armed men surprised a polling unit in Surulere where they shot sporadically into the air to scare away voters then destroyed the voting materials. A witness who ran for cover during the surprise attack narrated her experience to Al Jazeera’s Femke van Zeijl published on March 2, 2023 headlined “How violence robs Nigerians of their votes.”

Like most Nigerians in her age bracket, 31-year-old Tobi Olayinka hoped for a change in government, for something other than the two most powerful parties – All Progressives Congress and Peoples Democratic Party – in Nigeria. Naturally, she plumped for and was going to vote for Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party. She then waited at the unit so she could see the results at the end of the election. Alas, it never got to be.

In less than half a minute Olayinka’s hopes had turned to ashes in her mouth. As the video showed, a group of men surprised the unit, shot into the air, prompting the first time voter to “run for cover.”

“I ran faster than I ever had, I flew over flower pots and gutters,” she told Al Jazeera. A sympathetic resident opened the gate for her and others to take refuge in. Next, the video shows what the men have come for, as reported by the cable news media.

“What happened next at PU 24 was recorded from a roof terrace across the street with a clear view of the polling booth, which came under attack from 10 men. One grabs

The BVAS and Intermediary servers were never hacked. They were only switched off so the trespasser could feed the server with his own results in place of the original ones from the polling units

the table the electoral officers had sat on and flings it onto the street, scattering all documents that were on top. Another goes straight for the box with the red cover marked PRESIDENTIAL, lifts it up high above his head and slams it onto the asphalt, the cast ballot papers piling up onto the street. The other two ballot boxes get the same treatment from a third man.”

Just last week, this newspaper reported the various acts of brigandage visited on peaceful voters carrying out their civic duties at Polling Units across the country.

There was, for instance, “the unpremeditated beheading of Samuel Arunsi Eze by a political thug Daniel Mgba in Abia state. The killing took place in Ndi Agwu Community of Abam in Arochukwu council. One of the assailants was himself killed in the process.

“Violence in other states and cities were soon recorded and reported in the papers and social media. Polling stations and INEC officials were invariably the target of such attacks by political thugs. In Lagos state alone, polling stations in Amuwo Odofin, Badagry, Fadeyi, Iba, Ijaiye, Ijanikin, Iyana Shashi, Ikate, Ikorodu, LASU Iba, Lekki, Mafoloku, Ogombo, Ojota, Sangotedo, Surulere were attacked effectively disrupting the polls.

“Thugs in Surulere working on behalf of the ruling party APC reportedly warned voters who were not willing to vote for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, to vacate the polling units while policemen looked away.”

“If the police looked away while the thugs operated in

Surulere, their action was even more damning at Ogombo Primary School. According to one account, “thugs chased away voters and locked the gates while police officers stood still, smiling at them,” a situation that was not “different at Ojota Senior Secondary School.”

Did the acts of violence alter the results of the elections? A capital yes is the answer because many potential voters were disenfranchised by the thugs.

Still on the disruption in Surulere, Al Jazeera reported that “on Akerele Street, two kilometres (1.2 miles) from Olayinka’s voting unit, about five men wearing black masks and holding black pump action rifles jumped out of a yellow minibus near the gate of Falolu Road around 2:30pm (13:30 GMT). They fired shots in the air to scatter the crowd as Nigerian and international journalists looked on. The masked men took possession of the presidential ballot box and destroyed the other two before disappearing. Voting at this polling unit with 934 registered voters was subsequently cancelled.”

Continuing, Al Jazeera noted that “violent groups known as political thugs have been used by the established political parties in Nigeria for decades to influence the electoral process by force,” insisting that “if the voting does not seem to go their way, the candidates mobilise these thugs to raid the polling units. Not only does it scare people away from casting their ballots in the first place, but it also invalidates the ballots of the people who do come out to vote.”

Aside from the political thugs who carried out their acts of sabotage in the open, critics of the presidential poll now insist that the most damage was done in isolation in a room. At least for now, that is the contention of the presidential candidates of the PDP, LP and NNPP, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, respectively - that is altering the results of the election by shutting two of INEC’s three servers.

An unnamed software engineer working with INEC admitted as much in a recorded interview that has since gone viral. In it, he told an interviewer how APC approached him to do their bidding. “I said I was not interested.” It is best to hear the full text of his interview to understand how APC, in his words, compromised the results.

The software engineer who obviously works with INEC began by telling the interviewer what possibly transpired. “INEC has three servers. The first one is where they host the electoral body’s website. The second one is where the BVAS data is stored. The third one is the intermediary – the link between the website and the BVAs when you collate data and you want to upload to the website. What happened was that they switched off the BVAS server and the Intermediary server. Now when they switched it off...I thought they logged me out of the system because APC came to me to say can I help them in the election? I told them I was not interested. The only other person I thought that could do it also told me he was not interested.

“I was monitoring the servers out of due diligence. I now realised that, for some reason, I could not log in. I now thought that they logged me out. But by some miracle we have a very strong cyber security team. They switched off the server and you cannot connect to something that is offline. When I now realised that they switched off the servers, I said what is going on? Then I inspected the space. It turns out that the space is being consumed without any data being in-putted online. So, that means someone is manually imputing data. That is literally what happened. That is literally how they rigged the election. There was no hacker. They didn’t need any hacker to do that. They simply turned off the BVAS and the Intermediary servers and started in-putting the numbers themselves.”

Already declared winner of the presidential polls and presented with his certificate of return, Tinubu has been taken to task by his opponents who insist the election was rigged in his favour. For one, PDP, LP and NNPP party representatives duly complained right before INEC chair even while the results were being collated at International Conference Centre Abuja last week.

Their chief complaint was that, contrary to its assurance to upload results from polling units straight to the BVAS, INEC did not live up to its promise. On his part, Mahmood insisted that the BVAS could not be breached by hacking. If the software engineer is to be believed, the INEC chairman is not far from the truth. The BVAS and Intermediary servers were never hacked. They were only switched off so the trespasser could feed the server with his own results in place of the original ones from the polling units.

Yakubu

Politics Without Bitterness

Developments surrounding the declaration of results in last week's presidential and national assembly elections in Lagos calls for real concern. A situation where a group of people would start unleashing terror and violence on others simply because their preferred candidate lost the election is highly condemnable. More worrisome is the fact that the aggressors had even tried unsuccessfully to intimidate, frustrate and frustrate their victims from exercising their civic rights before and during the exercise.

A situation where the city of aquatic splendour and centre of excellence is taken over by miscreants, hoodlums and thugs with no real political value except the nuisance they have become should be a source of worry to wellmeaning Nigerians.

While we agree that all politics is local, it should not be an excuse for trampling on the rights of others, especially of those with opposing political beliefs and views. Politics should be played with decency and decorum as democracy guarantees the rights and freedom of all to association.

However, we are glad that the aggressors were immediately called to order as the supposed loser of the election has since moved on, taking the home defeat in his stride. This, without doubt, is a great lesson in magnanimity and a demonstration of political maturity.

We also expect the winners to also display some levels of humility and not the arrogance and grandstanding that we see in some of their followers who suddenly started laying claims to one form of ''entitlement'' or the other.

While respect is reciprocal, everyone should know his bounds and limits for a peaceful co-existence and harmonious relationship.

As Nigerians prepare for the next round of the general election on Saturday, March 11, we hope that we'll all be guided by the lessons and fall-outs from the first round of the exercise. As we progress in our democratic journey, we should learn to live and let others live. More importantly, elections should not be seen as a do-or-die affair as there is always life after the elections.

Since the second and final lap of the exercise is so crucial to governance at the grassroots, Nigerians have another opportunity to

choose who'll govern them for the next four years. And they must choose wisely by voting the candidates of their choice without any undue interference or pressure.

The political parties should

call their supporters to order and counsel them not to constitute themselves into any nuisance before, during and after the election. There should be no intimidation or harassment of any sort and every eligible voter should be allowed to cast his or her vote under a peaceful atmosphere.

Democracy is beautiful if we all play by the rules of the game.

We also call on the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to redeem its battered image and credibility by getting its act right this time around. INEC should block all loopholes experienced during the first round of election, especially in the area of logistics, and deliver all election materials and, as well, transmit all results as at when due.

Nigerians are not yet convinced on the reasons adduced by INEC for not deploying the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), an electronic device designed to read Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and authenticate voters, despite all the promises made before the election. For the election to be considered credible, INEC must be seen to have done its best without any excuse.

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

Austyn Ogannah

Editor – Olaolu Olusina

Deputy Editor – Amos Esele

Politics Editor – Ayo Esan

Business Editor – Sam Diala

Copy Editor – Chux Ohai

Cartoon Editor – Victor Asowata

Entertainment/Society Editor – Ivory Ukonu

Photo Editor – Peace Udugba

Head, Graphics – Tosin Yusuph

Circulation Manager – Victor Nwokoh

Nigeria Bureau: 36AA Remi Fani-Kayode Street, GRA, Ikeja. Lagos, Nigeria. info@thewillnigeria.com / @ THEWILLNG, +234 810 345 2286, +234 913 333 3888.

EDITOR: Olaolu Olusina @OLUSINA

[Letters/Opinions: opinion.letters@thewillnigeria.com]

The political parties should call their supporters to order and counsel them not to constitute themselves into any nuisance before, during and after the election. There should be no intimidation or harassment of any sort and every eligible voter should be allowed to cast his or her vote under a peaceful atmosphere

Broken Promises, Breached Trust: Has INEC Betrayed Nigeria?

BY ANTHONY UBANI

We viewed with grave concern the uploading of results and subsequent declaration of a winner of the 2023 Presidential elections in the early hours of Wednesday, March 1, 2023. The haste and timing of these actions have led to widespread consternation raising germane questions as to the motives of both actions.

Nigerians will recall that in November 2022, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, conscious of growing public concerns about the sincerity, transparency and commitment of INEC to conducting free, fair and credible elections in which the votes of citizens will be respected as the ‘voice of the people’, spoke at a press conference where he gave Nigerians an assurance and commitment that the Commission will upload polling results from the polling unit; and that citizens will have access to these results in real time. In his own words:

“…the commission will upload polling unit results and citizens will have access to those results in real time as we upload the results. This innovation was introduced by the Commission. The Commission cannot turn around and undermine itself. This technology has come to stay. We will upload polling unit results from the polling units. Citizens will have the right to view these results. After all, who are we serving? The citizens. How can we deprive citizens access to the results of the process conducted by them at the polling unit? I want to assure you and reassure you that the 2023 general elections will be our best ever election and we are committed that votes cast by Nigerians will determine the outcome of the elections. Nothing more, nothing less.”

It is this assurance and several others by the INEC Chairman that built confidence amongst Nigerians to register to collect their PVCs. It was also as a result of this confidence that voters went out enthusiastically to cast their votes on election day despite the significant challenges of access to cash and high cost of transportation for those who had to travel.

The public even accepted the added burden of the closure of the tertiary institutions as part of the sacrifice in reciprocity to the assurances given by INEC of a vote that would mean something. Many returned from overseas to exercise their citizenship in the hopes that the process will be transparent, free and their votes will count. Unfortunately, since the Presidential elections held on Saturday, February 25, 2023, the country has been saturated with reports, complaints and protests from citizens, candidates, political party officials, civil society organizations, the media, local

and international observers and well-meaning Nigerians. In spite of the diverse range of these voices, three specific complaints cuts across most of them: INEC’s failure/ refusal to upload presidential election results particularly in real time to the I-REV portal; the complete lack of transparency in INEC’s processes; and the failure to follow its own regulations and processes amongst other elections management infractions.

With regards to the specific issue of electronic transmission of results, the combined effect of sections 50, 52(2), and 63 of the Electoral Act 2022 shows clearly that INEC failed to obey its own law. Article 38: I, 2 and 3 of INEC’s guidelines is unambiguous:

Article 38 on Electronic Transmission of Results and Upload of Results to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV) states:

“On completion of all the Polling Unit voting and results procedures, the Presiding Officer shall:

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

“(ii) Use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), as prescribed by the Commission.

“(iii) 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.”

In the face of INEC’s failure to upload polling unit results from the polling unit in real time and sundry other failings added to the evident bewilderment and disillusionment of citizens with the opaque process, it seemed logical and respectful of the citizens whom it claims to serve for INEC to have taken immediate steps, consistent with its law and the promise made to citizens by its Chairman, to address the issues, fears and concerns that have been raised by citizens since the elections held. Instead, the world watched the INEC Chairman blithely dismiss and punt issues raised only to decide to attempt to rectify its egregious infractions and thereafter, to declare a winner of the Presidential election.

We believe that INEC’s decision to declare the winner of

the 2023 presidential election has raised severe doubts in the minds of Nigerian citizens and a global audience about the legitimacy of the process that produced the results announced by INEC. Elections are integral to the democratic process, and validity and legitimacy of elections are rooted in principles of transparency, obedience to the rule of law and the open compliance with due processes.

In the absence of these principles of good governance, elections become a mere tool contrived to reach a predetermined end, leaving the citizens as hapless passengers and on-lookers in the governance of a commonwealth that is their patrimony. The beneficiaries of such a poorly managed and questionable process will lack the legitimacy and full support of citizens to govern effectively.

We believe that INEC has erred in declaring a winner of the Presidential election at this time when significant matters of electoral infractions that are of concern to most Citizens are yet to be addressed. This election was primed to be one that will help initiate the process of healing the many wounds inflicted on Nigerians, and uniting them in common purpose to face the monumental challenges that lie ahead.

By ignoring the legitimate complaints of Nigerians and choosing to declare a president elect, it is our wellconsidered and reasoned opinion that INEC has abdicated its legal and moral responsibilities to citizens and delegitimized any candidate it declares winner.

Political leaders govern by the consent, support and confidence of their citizens. If that consent and support is lacking, governance becomes the first casualty. There is still time to get it right. INEC has the power to review its decisions. The clock is ticking as the law in its prescient wisdom recognizes that INEC is not infallible and can still restore the confidence and faith of the citizens in its role as an impartial umpire. It provides a window of seven (7) days for INEC to review its position –

We therefore call on INEC to swiftly review the breaches and gaps that occurred, investigate all petitions; and comprehensively review the election results based on findings, in the interest of the citizens and for the sake of the progress, peace, good governance and development of Nigeria.

•Ubani is Executive Director, #FixPolitics

Thoughts on Assassination of Victor Oyibo Chukwu

BY ARTHUR CHUKWU

Thoughts on the Assassination of Chief Victor Oyibo Chukwu, Labour Party Candidate in the 2023 Enugu East Senatorial Election, by Professor Arthur Chukwu, Head of the Department of Professional Ethics and Skills, Nigerian Law School, Yola, Campus.

With tears in my eyes, I make the declaration below on behalf of the Chief Chukwu Family of Amurri Town in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State on the assassination on Wednesday, February 22, 2023, of our illustrious son, Chief Oyibo Victor Chukwu, at Amechi, Uwani, in Enugu South Local Government Area, while returning from a meeting with family members on the senatorial election in Enugu East in which he was contesting as the Labour Party candidate.

Our harmless son was not only assassinated, his remains were burnt, together with his vehicle. His most reliable personal assistant, Mr Sunday Igwesi, was also killed and incinerated in the same manner. Never in the political history of Enugu State has sacrilege of this magnitude occurred. The level of hate and intolerance that could lead a person to plan and execute this kind of action against innocent persons whose only offence was that they chose to exercise their God-given right of participation in the nation’s electoral process is unimaginable.

Based on credible intelligence, our worthy son had confided in a couple of persons that he was being trailed by members of the Ebeano political group in Enugu State. In fact, in the morning of Wednesday, February 22, 2022, the very day he was killed in the most cowardly manner, he told some persons that he was going to write a petition to the security and intelligence agencies in Enugu State on the plans to eliminate him, so that they could investigate the persons involved and nip their evil plans in the bud.

Chief Oyibo Chukwu became an assassination target because of the stupendous popularity of the Labour Party in Enugu State

in particular and the rest of the country in general, as well as his stellar credentials. Apart from being a political veteran on the national stage, our son, a senior lawyer, led the Nigerian Bar Association in Oji River, Enugu, in its most glorious days. His professional colleagues can always testify to his courage, wisdom, tenacity, vision, uncanny organizational skills, and other outstanding leadership attributes. He was coasting home to victory by the time assassins stopped him.

It was not just Chief Chukwu they stopped, but the entire Enugu East Senatorial Zone whose people have for several years been yearning for effective representation in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and, by extension, for good governance.

We find it curious that more than one week after Chief Chukwu was assassinated, the Owelle of Amurri, former national auditor of the defunct Social Democratic Party in the Third Republic and former secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in Enugu State, was murdered in the most brutal way, the Enugu State Government has not deemed it important to condemn the killing or that of his personal assistant, nor has any of its officials visited the Chukwu family living in Enugu City. Yet, His Excellency, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State claims that his greatest legacy since his assumption of office almost eight years ago is an atmosphere of peace. We are unable to see how the killing of a foremost lawyer and politician and his worthy PA, which has attracted national and international headlines, is of no importance to the PDP government of The Right Honorable Dr Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

We are convinced that the founding fathers of Enugu State never imagined that politics in our dear state would someday be taken to a level where the lives of the citizens could no longer be considered sacred. Enugu people had presumed that the politics of violence ended 16 years ago. They rejoiced too soon.

Not even the unequivocal condemnation by President

Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, of Chief Chukwu’s killing has moved the outgoing Enugu State administration to issue a statement on our son’s assassination, more than one week after the atrocity was committed. President Buhari not only condemned the assassination in the strongest terms possible but also directed the security agencies to fish out the cowards who killed him. Still, Governor Ugwuanyi wears the beautiful toga of the chief security officer of our dear Enugu State.

Our assurance to the people of the Enugu East Senatorial Zone and the rest of the State is that the blood of our great son would not be shed in vain. We urge the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Security to fish out those who planned the assassinations and those who carried them out, as well as their collaborators. They must account for their actions both in this life and in the life to come.

We commend Nigerians at home and abroad for their condolences, solidarity and prayers. They are too numerous to mention. But we would like to acknowledge here the peculiar roles of President Muhammadu Buhari; the Labour Party presidential candidate, His Excellency, Mr Peter Gregory Obi; the National Chairman of our reform-minded party, Barrister Julius Abure; the Enugu State Labour Party gubernatorial candidate, The Honorable Barrister Chijioke Edeoga; the Nigerian Bar Association; the Enugu State branch of the Labour Party; the leadership of the Nigeria Police Command in Enugu State and other security and intelligence agencies; different nongovernmental organisations and, of course, the press for being alive to their responsibilities in these times. These are times that try men’s souls.

•Professor Chukwu is head, Department of Professional Ethics and Skills, Nigerian Law School, Yola Campus, Adamawa State.

Flood, Oil Theft, Resonate in 2022 Low GDP

BY SAM DIALA

The impact of severe flood and massive oil theft that put Nigeria on the spotlight of economic devastation last year, contributed to the poor Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2022. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its 2022 fourth quarter report said the overall annual growth rate dropped to 3.10 percent from 3.40 percent in 2021. The poor performance was fuelled by the tributaries of decline in major sectors that did not fare better.

Notwithstanding the moderate GDP growth after the COVID-19induced recession, the continued shrink in the agricultural sector has been a serious concern among stakeholders. According to NBS, four sub-activities make up the Agricultural sector: Crop Production, Livestock, Forestry and Fishing.

The agricultural sector in the fourth quarter of 2022 grew by 2.05 percent (year-on-year) in real terms, a decrease of 1.53 percent points from the corresponding period of 2021, but an increase of 0.71 percent points from the preceding quarter which recorded a growth rate of 1.34 percent.

It grew on a quarter-on-quarter basis at -1.01 percent. Overall, growth rate of the sector in 2022 was at 1.88 percent lower than the 2.13 percent reported in 2021.

The sector contributed 26.46 percent to the overall GDP in real terms in Q4 2022, lower than in the corresponding quarter of 2021 and lower than the third quarter of 2022 which stood at 26.84 percent and 29.67percent respectively. The total contribution of the agricultural sector in 2022 was 25.58 percent (2021 numbers not available).

Fare Profiteering: NANTA Seeks FCCPC Intervention

BY ANTHONY AWUNOR

Agencies (NANTA) clearly became untenable.

The oil sector did not fare better. The statistical bureau reported that the nation in the fourth quarter of 2022 recorded an average daily oil production of 1.34 million barrels per day (mbpd), lower than the daily average production of 1.50 mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2021 by 0.16 mbpd.

The real growth of the oil sector was –13.38 percent (year-on-year) in Q4 2022 indicating a decrease of 5.33 percent points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2021.

Growth increased by 9.29 percent points when compared to Q3 2022 which was –22.67 percent. On a Quarter-on-Quarter, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of -14.93 percent in Q4 2022.

However, the annual growth rate of oil stood at -19.22 percent compared to the -8.30 percent recorded in 2021. The Oil sector contributed 4.34 per cent to the total real GDP in Q4 2022, down from the figures recorded in the corresponding period of 2021 and the preceding quarter, where it contributed 5.19 percent and 5.66 percent respectively.

The total annual contribution of oil to aggregate GDP in 2022 was 5.67 percent higher than the third quarter of 2022 production volume of 1.20 mbpd by 0.14mbpd.

Ravages of Flood

The 2022 floods in various parts of Nigeria led to an estimated economic loss of $9.12 billion (about N4.3 trillion), the federal government announced in January 2023.

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MORE INSIDE

Awori, Ecobank Group’s New CEO, Assumes Office

United Capital Delivers Impressive Growth, Sustains Robust Dividend as Revenue Spikes 49%

S

olutions to fare profiteering by foreign airlines operating in Nigeria assumed a different dimension weeks after the International Air Transport Association ( IATA) brokered intervention over the vexing issues tabled by National Association of Nigeria Travel

Over the years, travel agents have continuously frowned at the recent resolve by foreign airlines to sell exploitative tickets to Nigerians because of their inability to repatriate their funds trapped in the country.

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Nigerian Breweries Profit Slumps Amidst Opex, FX Losses

PAGE 35

Setting the tone for the financials declaration period, foremost investment bank and pan-African financial services group, United Capital Plc has maintained its multi-year success streak, as evidenced in its recently announced Audited Financial Statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. As a show of confidence to shareholders, the company proposed maintaining a dividend of N1.50

Continues on page 34

Ashade

Buhari

AVIATION/ECONOMY

Fare Profiteering: NANTA Seeks FCCPC Intervention

Continued from page 32

Flood, Oil Theft, Resonate in 2022 Low GDP

Continued from page 32

The government said the amount was established after a postdisaster assessment on the 2022 flooding by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, in the Global Rapid Damage Estimation Note (GRDEN).

Presenting the report, Sadiya Farouq said the objective of the GRDEN developed by the World Bank’s Disaster-Resilience Analytics and Solutions team, was to assess the economic impact of the June – November 2022 floods across the country.

On some of the key findings of the flood assessment, the report stated that all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory were affected by the 2022 flood in Nigeria with varying degrees of damages and people affected.

To address the lingering issue, Mrs Susan Akporiaye, President National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) in company of some of her executives, recently stormed the Abuja headquarters of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission ( FCCPC) to seek guidance and the next line of action over foreign airlines’ exorbitant fares and closing of lower inventories to travel agents across the country.

Three weeks ago, at a briefing held in Lagos, NANTA had decried the high handedness of foreign airlines on the matter, which had caused an uproar among travellers and subsequently led to the closure of many travel trade companies and loss of jobs.

Addressing the FCCPC team led by its Executive Vice chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Babatunde Irukera, Mrs Akporiaye said the association was committed to protecting its members and their businesses from any form of exploitation and unfair practices from any quarter, hence the visit to the FCCPC for guidance and solutions driven advice on the face-off with foreign airlines over unfair airfare pricing in Nigeria.

She said, “We strongly view from our

professional experience and knowledge of fare mechanism, that the reactions of foreign airlines on trapped funds is grossly unfair to the Nigerian travelling public and gravely threatens the survival of NANTA members”.

With her team, comprising Mr Chima Ihe, Second Deputy President, NANTA, Yinka Folami and Mrs Uloma Ibiwari Kemabonta, Vice Presidents, Lagos and Abuja zones of the association, Mrs Susan Akporiaye further requested the Federal Government Competition and Consumer Protection regulatory Commission to assist NANTA, and the Nigeria travelling public, with remedies to curb the unfair practices in the downstream aviation sector and how best to articulate its position going forward.

In his response, FCCPC Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Babatunde Irukera, commended the NANTA Leadership for the trust and confidence in government structured competition and consumer protection ecosystem, adding that the commission will study the issues, and engage necessary interventions which may include inviting parties and stakeholders involved.

“We at FCCPC welcome your request for guidance , and will do our best to help determine possible steps to solve this problem which affects Nigerians, but will first put up an investigation team to determine what led to this impasse and possibly infractions against the travelling public.”the FCCPC boss assured. Earlier NANTA had raised the alarm over the alleged exploitation of Nigerians by foreign airlines, noting that the attitude of the carriers in refusing to open the lower ticket inventories amounts to taking advantage of the market they operate in.

Akporiaye at a world press conference held in Lagos recently stressed that it is only in Nigeria that a traveler is made to cough out over $2000 for an economy ticket and also change the date of the flight itinerary for whatever personal reasons with about N1.5 million and N1.8 million.

To put this in perspective, the NANTA boss explained that all low-fare inventories of the airlines had been deliberately blocked to their members and to the market, stressing that airlines, even after various engagements as partners, seem not to take such relationship or business history with NANTA into consideration, rather have gone ahead to make the market extremely difficult for members and in effect expensive for travelers.

It read in part, “This analysis estimates that the total direct economic damages, based on currently reported statistics as of November 25, 2022, are in the range of $3.79bn to $9.12bn, with the best (median) estimate at $6.68bn.

“This includes damages to residential and non-residential buildings (including building contents), as well as damages to infrastructure, productive sectors and to cropland.”

Farouq explained that the number of persons affected rose above 4.9 million as of November 25, 2022, with significant damage to infrastructure, including roads, irrigation and river, as well as electricity projects, with around $1.23bn ($0.959 – $1.724bn) in damage expected.

Scourge of Oil Theft

The Nigerian Senate, in November 2022, disclosed that the country lost $2 billion to oil theft within eight months. The red chamber through its ad-hoc committee on the incident, revealed this following its investigations on oil theft covering January to August last year.

The group chief executive officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, had also disclosed that Nigeria was losing $1.9 billion monthly to crude oil theft.

Kyari spoke when a delegation on an anti-oil theft team led by Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources, visited governor Okowa at the government house, Asaba.

He said Nigeria hardly met her production quota due to the activities of the economic saboteurs.

“As a country, we hardly meet our OPEC production quantum of 1.99 million barrels per day with our current production level of 1.4 million barrels per day which is currently being threatened by the activities of these economic saboteurs.

“This has done extensive damage to the environment, and losing $1.9 billion every month is colossal, considering the nature of the global economy at the moment,” Kyari said.

The rescuers

Two sectors played the rescuing role in the 2022 GDP performance. They are the Information and Communication sector (driven by the telecommunication sub-sector) and Service.

The Information and Communication sector is composed of the four activities of Telecommunications and Information Services; Publishing; Motion Picture, Sound Recording and Music Production; and Broadcasting.

The sector in the fourth quarter of 2022 recorded a growth rate of 10.35 percent in real terms, year-on-year. From the rate recorded in the corresponding period of 2021, there was an increase of 5.32 percent points.

On a Quarter-on-Quarter, the sector exhibited a growth of 17.23 percent in real terms. Overall, the sector grew by 9.76 percent in 2022. Of total real GDP, the sector contributed 16.22 percent in the 2022 fourth quarter, higher than in the same quarter of the previous year in which it represented 15.21 percent and higher than the preceding quarter in which it represented 15.35 percent.

The total contribution of the sector in real terms in 2022 stood at 16.51% percent higher than the 15.51 percent reported in 2021

‘Other Services’ real GDP grew by 0.06 percent (year-on-year) in Q4 2022. This growth was lower by 1.57 percent points than the growth recorded in the same period of the previous year, and higher by 2.73 percent points from Q3 2022. Quarter-on-Quarter growth was 63.27 percent. The annual growth rate of the sector in 2022 stood at 1.07 percent. The sector contributed 3.27 percent to real GDP in Q4 2022, lower than the 3.39 percent recorded for the corresponding quarter of 2021 and higher than the 2.23 percent recorded in Q3 2022.

These accounted for the positive GDP growth in the Non-Oil sector. The NonOil sector contributed 95.66 percent to the nation’s GDP in the fourth quarter of 2022, higher than the share recorded in the fourth quarter of 2021 which was 94.81 percent and higher than the third quarter of 2022 recorded as 94.34 percent. On the aggregate 94.33 percent was contributed in 2022, higher than the 92.76 percent reported in 2021.

Over the years, the Travel Agents have continuously frowned at the recent resolve by foreign airlines to sell exploitative tickets to Nigerians because of their inability to repatriate their funds trapped in the country

Notwithstanding the moderate GDP growth after the COVID-19induced recession, the continued shrink in the agricultural sector has been a serious concern among stakeholders

L-R: Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Mr Babatunde Irukera (3rd left); President National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Mrs Susan Akporiaye (4th left), and others at the visit of the travel agents to FCCPC headquarters in Abuja recently.

Cross-border Securities Payments Get Boost as NGX, PAPSS Sign MoU

Cross-border securities transactions across African capital markets has received significadnt boost as Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and Pan African Payments Settlement System (PAPSS) sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to integrate the payments system into the capital markets. The MoU, signed in a virtual ceremony on Tuesday, February 28, saw attendance from notable individuals including the President, Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah and Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria, Mr Lamido Yuguda; Chairman, NGX, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, OON among others.

...Sustains Robust Dividend as Revenue Spikes 49%

for every 50 kobo ordinary share.

In spite of economic oscillations, United Capital Plc has recorded impressive margins, with its Gross Earnings rising by 49% year-on-year to N26.90 billion, and PBT rising by 13% year-on-year to N13.50 billion.

The company also recorded 33% year-on-year growth in Total Assets to the tune of N601.92 billion while Shareholders’ Funds increased by 8% year-on-year to N32.99 billion.

Commenting on the Group’s remarkable performance, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Peter Ashade, had this to say:

“During the year 2022, we navigated a difficult terrain to sustain our earnings growth and deliver decent returns to shareholders while strengthening our organizational resilience to factors militating against business growth, particularly in emerging economies.

“Our operating environment despite the undulating landscape continues to present windows of opportunities for all our businesses in the locations we operate. This is accentuated by the 49% growth in revenue to N26.90 billion which helped offset increased operating expenses resulting from very high inflation and severely impacted macroeconomic environment which we anticipated in Q4-2022.

“We remain upbeat about sustaining our performance in 2023 having kicked off the year in a robust financial position with close to N1 trillion funds under management comprising trusts, mutual funds, and other professionally managed investments for our clients across diverse segments.

“The Group is better positioned to deliver on our growth objectives while remaining competitive and sustainably profitable. We will continue to prioritize activities that

create and preserve value for all our stakeholders into the foreseeable future.”

For United Capital Plc, the fiscal year under review also marked the beginning of a new corporate strategy cycle poised to propel the company to new heights - a strategy that has already begun to yield results, as evidenced by its financial performance, pan-African footprints, expansion into global markets, and strategic partnership with two leading Swiss investment banks.

The company was also recognized by Financial Times as one of Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies and received the 2022 Sectorial Leadership Award (Financial Services – Other Financial institutions) at the 2022 Pearl Awards.

United Capital is already on an accelerated path to success in the new year. The Central Bank of Nigeria has granted the company a microfinance banking license, allowing it to expand its business activities (and potential earnings) even further.

United Capital Plc remains a leader in the financial and investment services space, offering a robust suite of service offerings: Investment Banking, Asset Management, Trusteeship, Securities Trading, Wealth Management, and Consumer Finance. The group aims to transform the African continent by providing innovative and creative investment banking solutions to governments, companies, and individuals.

The group is listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and is at the forefront of becoming the financial and investment role model across Africa by leveraging on innovation, technology, and specialist skills to exceed client expectations, while creating more value for all stakeholders.

Awori, Ecobank Group’s New CEO, Assumes Office

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the parent company of the Ecobank Group, has said that its new chief executive officer, Jeremy Awori, has assumed his role with effect from 1 March.

The Group appointed Mr Awori in September 2022 upon the retirement of the former CEO, Ade Ayeyemi, who clocked 60.

Speaking in a press statement by the bank, Mr Awori said his appointment is a fantastic opportunity to take Ecobank to the next level of growth.

“Despite current global challenges, Africa offers promising prospects,” he said.

“Ecobank is uniquely positioned to provide systematic change across the banking sector at a pan-African level, using the geographic footprint it has already established.

“Through our single gateway platform, we are well-positioned to provide the necessary financial products and solutions for countries, corporates, and SMEs to capitalize on the continent’s vast resource, trade, and investment opportunities.

“We also provide relevant, accessible, and affordable financial services that address the evolving needs of a vibrant, youthful, and entrepreneurial continent. Ecobank’s brand and heritage continue to be a source of pride.”

The Group Chairman, Alain Nkontchou, described the new CEO as a result-oriented effective leader with extensive knowledge of the African banking landscape. These qualities, he said, make him the ideal choice to steer the growth of the Ecobank Group through the era of rapid global and continental changes.

He also noted that Mr Awori has the full support of the ETI Board.

Mr Awori brings with him over 25 years of experience in the banking industry, including close to a decade serving as CEO and Managing Director of Absa Bank Kenya Plc.

Before joining Absa, he served in leadership roles at Standard Chartered Bank across the Middle East and Africa.

His extensive expertise, skills, and industry know-how make him a valuable addition to the Ecobank Group, the statement said.

The CEO, NGX, Mr Temi Popoola while giving his remarks said that integrating PAPSS into the cross-border capital market framework will fix issues with currency convertibility, reduce cost, shorten processing and settlement times and foster access to capital. "We hope that the success of this partnership will inspire other African nations to integrate with PAPSS to enable other member countries to benefit from improved efficiency.”

In his welcome remarks, the Chairman, NGX, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, OON stated that investors will enjoy a more efficient and cost-effective way of investing in African securities, thus promoting regional integration and boosting trade flows.

The CEO, PAPSS, Mike Ogbalu III said, “With the signing of this MOU with our strategic partner NGX, we expect more transactions to flow into our system, but we also expect more Central Banks to join the PAPSS infrastructure to extend the reach to millions more with the resultant positive impact on intra-African Trade.” Oramah, whilst giving his remarks noted that PAPSS came about as a recognition of the need to integrate payments for goods and services in Africa amid the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). “Just as we want to ensure smooth settlements for goods, capital market integration is also critical. This is why we collaborated with NGX to facilitate forging PAPSS into the cross-border securities trading framework.”

The DG, SEC, Mr. Yuguda stated that the signing of the agreement was a significant milestone in line with the revised Capital Market Masterplan. “SEC will support all initiatives to enhance the integrity and efficiency of the capital market.”

Expressing his optimism about the potentials of the initiative, the Chairman, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group), Alhaji (Dr) Umar Kwairanga said the agreement will open up new market opportunities to capital market operators across the continent.

“It has come at the right time when Africa wants to accelerate the implementation of AfCFTA,” said Oscar N. Onyema, OON, Group Chief Executive Officer, NGX Group. “It will stimulate the development of intra-African securities trading.” Commending the initiative, the President, African Securities Exchange Association (ASEA), Mr Thalepo Tsheole called on stakeholders to come together and ensure it is executed across Africa. He emphasised that using the umbrella of ASEA, with 9 exchanges and a market cap of $1.5trn, PAPSS could be instrumental to the African Exchanges Linkage Project.

L-R: Former Group Chairman, Nigerian Exchange Group, Otunba Abimbola Ogunbanjo and Chairman, Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), Mr. Ian McNaughton, during the opening bell ceremony at JSE to commemorate the groundbreaking launch of the Sierra Leonean High Commission recently.

Continued from page 32

Nigerian Breweries Profit Slumps Amidst Opex, FX Losses

Nigerian Breweries Plc reported 27 per cent. This comes over decline in profit before tax and growth in profit after tax of 4.06 percent over a decline in tax expenses.

The decline in profit before tax dragged the profit margin to 3.1 per cent in 2022 from 5.4 per cent in 2021, while the profit after tax margin stood at 2.4 per cent in 2022 from 2.9per cent in 2021.

Nigerian Breweries in its audited financial statement for full year ended December 31, 2022 reported N17.34 billion profit before tax from N23.7billion reported in 2021, while profit after tax grew by 4.06 per cent from N12.67billion in 2021 to N13.19billion in 2022.

The group thus recommended to shareholders a total dividend of N13.87 billion, that is, N1.43 kobo per ordinary share of 50 kobo each.

The total dividend consists of an interim dividend of N3.28, that is, 40 kobo per share, and a final dividend of N10.58 billion, that is, N1.03 kobo per share.

The group reported an Earning Per Share (EPS) of N1.58 in 2022 from N1.57 in 2021.

The achieved EPS was driven by the sturdy growth in revenue. As the board proposed a final dividend per share of N1.03 in 2022 from N1.20 in 2021, it implies a dividend yield of 2.5per cent based on the last closing price of N41.50 as of February 24, 2022.

The Group 2022 performance was weakened by a significant increase in total operating expenses and Net loss on foreign exchange transactions, over a challenging business environment.

The breweries manufacturing company reported N337.31billion cost of sales in 2022, an increase of 21.8per cent from N276.87billion in 2021 to position its gross profit at N213.33billion in 2022, representing an increase of 33 per cent from N160.41billion reported in 2021.

Gross profit margin expanded by 206basis points to 38.7per cent in 2022 from 36.7 per cent in 2021, as the

Sirika Calls For Cooperation Amongst WMO Member States

Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika has called on the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) to intensify effort in encouraging cooperation among Members and assist in bridging the existing gap between the political class and the experts on the field.

This is just as he commended the WMO Secretary General, Professor Petteri Taalas, who he said has shown tremendous support to the development of Meteorology globally, in Africa and specifically in Nigeria.

Sirika made the call during the 76th Session of the WMO Executive Council held in WMO headquarters in Geneva.

Electricity Restored in Abia, as NLC Leader Intervenes

strong revenue growth outweighed the increases in the cost of sales.

The higher cost in the period was influenced by the highly inflationary environment, devaluation of the naira, and high energy prices.

Total operating expenses elevated to N163.98billion in 2022, an increase of 31.6 percent from N124.6billion in 2021 with marketing-related costs accounting for 82.8per cent of the total operating expenses.

The breakdown of total operating expenses revealed a 38.1 per cent increase in selling and distribution expenses to N135.83billion in 2022 from N98.36 billion in 2021, while administrative expenses stood at N28.15billion in 2022, representing an increase of 7.3 per cent from N26.24billion reported in 2021.

The persistent increase in operating expenses mainly to the challenging operating environment in Nigeria, and the brewer’s continuous focus on increasing brand visibility.

In addition, the overall operating cost (Cost of sales, Selling and distribution expenses, among others) increased to N501.87billion in 2022 from N400.42billion in 2021.

Nigerian Breweries in 2022 spent aa whopping sum of N246.72billion on raw materials and consumables from N197.82billion in 2021.

Profit from operating activities stood at N51.76billion in 2022 from N41.49billion in 2021.

As net loss on foreign exchange transactions grew significantly to N26.34billion in 2022, an increase of 274per cent from N7.04billion in 2021, it brings net finance charges to N34.42 billion in 2022 from N billion reported in 2021.

Nigerian Breweries exposure from its foreign currency-denominated payables amid a 23.9per cent decline in finance cost.

The sustained power blackout in Abia State which began last Monday as a result of the dispute between the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the outgoing Governor Okezie Ikpeazu administration ended last night following the intervention of the NLC president, Comrade Joe Ajaero, who is reported to have expressed displeasure at the consequences of the long outage.

“Electricity was restored at 8.15 pm yesterday”, according to a senior engineering manager in one of the electricity companies in Abia State who didn’t want his name revealed in the media because he is not authorised to speak to the media on the matter.

The whole state was thrown into darkness as a result of the dispute between the labour union and the Ikpeazu government over the welfare of retired and serving public servants in the state.

Most workers in state-owned enterprises and tertiary institutions are owed salaries for over six months while some pensioners have not received any pay in years.

The NLC consequently directed members of the affiliate organisations in Abia State to down tools from February 27.

Since the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) is an NLC affiliate, the members in Abia State joined the strike against the Ikpeazu administration’s treatment of its employees. However, immediately he was informed of how hospitals, medical laboratories, diagnostic centres and other critical businesses were groaning as a result of the prolonged blackout, the NLC president, who used to be the NUEE secretary general, directed that electricity supply be restored without delay, according to Jude Efidi, an engineer and senior commercial manager with Aba Power.

Efidi said that factories, hotels, restaurants and small businesses were on the verge of collapse until the order to restore power supply was given.

He continued: “Tailors, shoemakers and others in Ariaria International Market in Aba and other places were besieging our offices in large numbers every hour, asking how they could help because they were thinking that the long outage, the first since Aba Power took over last year the Aba Ring-fenced Area which supplies electricity to nine out of the 17 local government areas in the state, was internal.

“But when we explained the cause to each group, they understood, pleading with us to put pressure on the authorities and the NLC to find an amicable and immediate solution to the crisis”.

The Minister noted that one practice that has enabled Meteorological development in Nigeria is the strong synergy and support between the Political Class and the experts. Explaining further, he said "we strive to ensure we have the right leadership at the elm of affairs of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), and the Agency under the leadership of Mansur Matazu, has also demonstrated commitment to excellence by judicious utilisation of resources, broad stakeholders’ engagements, and resultoriented goals with clearly detailed regular reporting".

Listing some of his achievements, the Minister pointed out that NiMet has grown in size, visibility and relevance, not only in Nigeria but in the region and indeed globally during his time.

"New products have been introduced by the Agency. These include Seasonal Climate Prediction (including its Summary for Policy Makers and translated version), the State of the Climate in Nigeria, Climate and Health Bulletin, Hydrometeorological bulletin, Agrometeorological bulletin, Extreme Weather Events Bulletin, Marine meteorological bulletin, 3-days Impact based Forecast and many more on different timescales and validity".

These products and many more tailored services, he said have generated lots of interest within the nation up to the Presidency that culminated into the President Personally commissioning a national Meteorological Institute of Science and Technology in his home State and in his honour.

According to him, there is increased inter-Agency synergy along the Climate Services Value Chain, bringing together the meteorological, hydrological, disaster management and all responders together as we develop and practice Multi-hazard Early Warning System for All Nigerians.

"NiMet forecasts provide basis for the Annual Flood Outlook and Disaster Preparedness in Nigeria by both Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency and National Emergency Management Agency (who are both in two separate Ministries of Governments).The Agency has provided interventions in Liberia, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Malawi in terms of Capacity Building. Technical Assistance, Quality Management Systems and Competency framework".

"We have successfully hosted, providing leadership, and participated in Regional Climate Outlook Forums. Nigeria was recently part of and led the Country Hydromet Diagnostic (CHD) in Liberia and Sierra Leone, we hosted a Study Visit by both National Meteorological Services of Republic of Niger and The Gambia, we provided hosting support for the WMO HydroSOS initiative and earnestly working to take the initiative to the implementation phase, and just on Tuesday, we are part of the SOFF Initiative as well.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, Segun Ogunsanya, paid a courtesy visit to the President of Kenya, Dr. William Ruto, at the State House Nairobi during the Conversations of Airtel Africa’s efforts at accelerating and deepening digital transformation in Kenya and the African continent in Kenya on March 3, 2023.

Need to Rejig Nigeria’s Financial Markets Infrastructure

BY TOPE FASUA

Myriads of lessons have been learnt from the cash swap and currency redesign experiment in Nigeria in the past few months. As much as a currency redesign should be a routine function of the Central Bank in any country, still it emerges that such a simple process could become very problematic when combined with other goals – such as curbing money laundering or reducing currency in circulation – not to talk of political imputations.

Next time, adequate planning will be required, and complexity must be added to the planners’ imagination, not just simple reliance on what may be faulty, academic statistics that have little bearing with reality. In the end, the major lesson learnt remains that a policy that has adverse effects on the wellbeing of the people must be quickly amended, squelched, adjusted or generally abandoned. Quick actions and reactions are required whenever we are dealing with the general populace.

But today, I intend to look at one germane aspect of the experiment: The adequacy or fitness of Nigeria’s financial architecture. Nigeria has generally moved with the rest of the world in terms of the digitisation of everything. This is great. However, this ‘demonetisation’ exercise shows that we may have again put the cart before the horse, as we are wont to. Quite embarrassingly, we have found out that we had more branches of banks in the rural areas in 1984 than we had in 2023 – 39 years later.

In my part of the country, many rural areas had Cooperative Bank, National Bank, Wema Bank, Savannah Bank, Allied Bank, Societe Generale Bank, Owena Bank, First Bank, Union Bank, UBA, and many more, back in the day, sprinkled all over the old Ondo State – now Ondo and Ekiti States. There were many other indigenous banks spread all over the country, in which bank managers did not look down on their customers as if they were vermin. Life was simple and analogue. There were no computers. Accounts were kept in huge ledgers. And the economies of our rural areas saw some growth, no matter how little. Now, those economies are shrinking to extinction.

It was General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.) who bought the Western idea of far-right capitalism. Then we started concentrating on whatever brought the raw profits. In time, we have seen a total abandonment of our rural areas. Our banks have evolved in digital, lean and mean machines that extract money from millions of Nigerians on a minutely basis, through different online charges. Customers of banks have become mere digits, ciphers, in the ethers of their psychedelic machines and servers and, of course, the cloud.

Nobody owns anything anymore, not even relationships. Billions of dollars keep turning in as profits from these lean and mean banks, most of which end up abroad, as Nigeria itself – with its dying rural areas and few crowded urban spots – has no absorptive capacity for even the huge profits that the banks, oil companies, telcos, and their staff are making. The Nigerian economy became totally externalised. I mean that we seem to exist for the sole purpose of pumping money outside to ‘countries that work’, even as our youngest, most-privileged, and smartest, are heading out to ‘the abroad’, in torrents.

The ongoing demonetisation project (very ill-advised and it is different from ordinary currency redesign), exposed that our banking infrastructure is inadequate. Branches are totally non-existent in about 450 out of 774 local governments in Nigeria (60%). Many were closed down because of the same skewed development, which led to armed robberies in rural banks. Others were closed down in our many series of bank consolidations and mergers, because they made no profits and the new owners were not obliged to leave them open.

For this category of closures, what mattered more was that the head office needed to post huge profits and impress shareholders and executive management. Of course, another victim of this misguided reform are the small bank workers at the base of the food chain. Too many of them have been summarily wasted, used and dumped like trash. The financial sector became, as usual, a playground of hyenas; chancers, users, scavengers, opportunists, cheats, and bullies.

With what we have seen, should we not be talking about reform? A senior friend of mine, Professor Richard Verner – ex-Oxford University – has a theory on the growth of economies. As a scientific economist who seeks empirical evidence, he states that the countries that have developed

around the world and countries like China, UK, USA, Japan and Germany have done so because they expanded their banking infrastructure, especially in the rural areas. I used to have misgivings about the idea of proliferating banks, but the more I engaged with the theories of Professor Werner, the more I see the cogent points he makes. Nigeria does not need fewer banks. We need more banks – in terms of brands and branches. But we need to approach banking differently.

Our previous experiments with community banks and microfinance banks collapsed because of several factors, such as lack of discipline on the part of owners, some of who see those banks as opportunities for quick extraction of profits, bad corporate governance, greed, ostentation (even MFBs want to buy and use big SUVs like those guys in Victoria Island) and bad business models imposed by regulators (e.g. that MFBs cannot raise funds locally).

In the end, what we have are big banks that don’t give a toss about their customers and small customers who throng the few branches of these big banks which treat them like trash. People now travel hundreds of kilometres to their banks, abandoning the same rural areas, even as the few big banks continue to invest in technology and robots that ensure that the small clients they have acquired get to feel more uncomfortable.

Something needs to be done and I see how it can be done. It will require deliberateness and patience. If done properly, it will revive many of our rural areas and unleash tremendous growth in our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Werner believes that – as it happens, especially in Germany – rural banks should lend to productive sectors only. If – as Tinubu says he wants to – we could regionalise development through value-addition to our primary products, then local banks could establish to finance that next phase of development.

We probably need less lending to farmers but more to industries which add value to products bought from farmers – who should be protected to get their fair prices and quick payment for their products. Commodity Boards and Exchanges to the rescue.

One critical reason for this proposal around a rejigged

banking infrastructure is that banks are saddled with the role of creating money. And money creation is economic expansion. Some call this the fractional banking system. It is a theory that falls under immense criticism, but if large economies have used this to power up their economy, let us not be hoodwinked into not trying it.

We must be able to get this country back and secure Nigeria for the next phase of development. Banks create money by expanding their balance sheet and this is how economies expand rapidly. Our current banking set-up looks tired, bloated in the wrong places and is increasingly visionless. It is not helped by the lack of resolve in the provision of security.

The big banks can continue to maintain focus on large industries and urban areas, but we now need small community banks or whatever they call them, which can maintain their focus on developing their environments – the US had thousands of those (family-owned banks, Savings and Loans institutions, etc).

Let me end by explaining how banks create money. If a bank obtains a license, and has just N1 million in its vault, it could issue a business loan of N2 million. All of a sudden, that bank has doubled its balance sheet. How? The lending is based on the assumption (which is usually correct) that those to whom it has given a business loan will not withdraw the entire new loan at once, or on the day it was given. That bank could even issue loans up to N5 million on the basis of that principle.

But this has three fallbacks. Because the bank belongs in a community of licensed banks, if indeed it anticipates a liquidity challenge, it could borrow overnight or short-term funds from its peers, run back to the central bank to draw on any reserve it owns, or to even get bailed-out for some time, or it could continue to raise funds from depositors in its own market. If thousands of banks are doing this in a country, hundreds of industries will emerge based on the funding that goes on, and therefore the GDP of that country will expand.

Nigeria has so many untapped areas. Mistakes may be made, and they are essential to learning and getting things right. Whatever the case, we are like a clean canvass. This Werner theory is however very valid from where I stand. For now, Lagos State alone – by recent statistics – has over 1,600 bank branches.

This is the combination of all bank branches in the NorthWest, North-Central, North-East and South-East put together. Nigeria’s other regions now have an average of about 450 bank branches – with branches concentrated only in the state capitals in the main. It’s such a shameful prospect. But it’s also an indication that perhaps only Lagos State is growing economically in Nigeria – with enough safety assured to allow these banks operate peacefully. But it is now high time to reverse this acute urbanisation of finance, and the attendant underdevelopment, chaos and de-industrialisation.

•Fasua is an economist, author, blogger and entrepreneur.

In the end, the chief lesson remains that a policy that has adverse effects on the wellbeing of the people must be quickly amended, squelched, adjusted or generally abandoned

Ugwudoro Cultural Festival of Unity, Development

BY JANEFRANCES CHIBUZOR

Theresidents of Evuazu community displayed their cultural heritage at the last year's edition of the Ugwudoro Cultural Festival, which attracted arts and culture custodians and tourism stakeholders seeking adventure. The guests at the event were excited by the diversity of the people's cultural displays that range from the masquerade dance to musical performances among other competitions.

This year's edition of the annual cultural fiesta was better organized. The festival planning committee laid down certain rules to ensure that the event held smoothly and without hitches. It is on record that anyone who goes contrary to the stipulated rules should be punished.

Every participant and guest at the festival is expected to be treated with respect due to the inherent dignity and value as human beings.

The festival, which had attracted personalities from every facet of life, is targeting to become the people's money-making machine, if well harnessed.

However, the annual festival brought together government officials and stakeholders in the private sector.

Although the festival faced some challenges, especially in the planning stage, it nevertheless

TOURISM

lived up to expectations. Some stakeholders have been able to invest in the festival, as they were adorned with expensive clothes and ornaments to elevate the masquerades status.

To ensure that the activities kept visitors enthralled between January 5 and 8, 2023, the PresidentGeneral of Evuazu Community in Obeleagu Umama, Mr. Sunday Ekwo, with support from the executive members, provided the community with infrastructural facilities. The facilities included electricity and potable water, among others.

Under the leadership of Mr. Ekwo, the people organised a mini-festival known as Evuazu Day, a move aimed at promoting peaceful coexistence among the people. Ekwo noted that when he took over office, the community was in a state of disorderliness as the whole system was not functional.

Speaking with journalists on the last day of the festival, he assured them of the readiness and determination of members of the community to raise the standard of the festival by 2024.

Earlier, The National President of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Mr. Godwin Abumisi, stated that the Umunwanke people had more and bigger masquerades performing this year

than the previous years, assuring that he would be presenting big masquerades to his village. “I have fulfilled that and they all performed during this festival. If you come to Umunwanke, we have about seven big masquerades that performed today,” he said.

Ekwo noted that despite the unfortunate experiences encountered by the community in the past, the 2023 celebration was the best festival ever celebrated since the beginning of the annual cultural festival. He promised that the 2024 edition of the event would be better organized.

“I know the festival is older than me. It is our inheritance,” he said.

On security, he said the fact that nobody was injured, there was no kidnapping on that day and no vehicle was stolen meant the community is safe.

Appealing to the state government to support the community with infrastructure, the presidentgeneral noted that residents of the community had for long depended on their own self-help efforts without assistance from the government.

“We have not got any support from the government in terms of infrastructure.

One of the honourable members that graced the occasion has already promised the organisers that by 2024 he will make sure that the Nigeria Television Authority is invited to cover the event,” he added.

The 2023 National Assembly Election which took place on Saturday, February 25 has come and gone. THEWILL has compiled a list of politicians’ children who emerged winners and losers in the election

POLITICIANS’ CHILDREN THAT WON, LOST IN 2023 NASS ELECTION

The Winners

Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala

Bello El-Rufai

The controversial son of Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State won the election in Kaduna North Federal Constituency on the platform of the APC. He defeated the incumbent, Samaila Suleiman, the lawmaker representing the constituency at the National Assembly to win the ticket. Bello scored a total of 51,052 votes to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP candidate who pulled 34,808 votes. Voters who ensured that Bello emerged victorious must have forgotten his infamous rape tweet in 2020. He had threatened to set up his friends to gang-rape a Twitter user’s mother while also insulting the Igbo ethnic group in the tweet. His habitual insults and disrespectful attitude had become a subject of discourse on social media before he eventually apologised for his outburst. He has not stopped courting controversy like a second skin since then. Hopefully he turns a new leaf now that he has been elected a lawmaker in Nigeria.

Olumide Osoba

Olumide Osoba is the son of a former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba. He won Saturday’s election in Obafemi/Owode/ Odeda/Abeokuta-North Federal Constituency on the platform of the APC.

The young Osoba had a total of 43, 446 votes to defeat his closest rival, Yemi Coker of the PDP who scored 19, 699 votes. His victory is a testament to the fact that his father gave him good training in the game of politics well enough to have twice successfully represented the constituency in the House of Representatives. He must have also impressed his constituents so well that they didn't mind voting him to represent them a third time.

Tokunbo Abiru

Tokunbo is a former bank chief and one of the sons of Mubasiru Akanbi Olatunji Abiru, a prominent politician of the Second Republic. He emerged winner of the election in Lagos East Senatorial District on the platform of the APC, scoring 178,646 votes to beat his closest opponent, Akobada Nicholas Adekunle of the PDP, who got 80,249 votes. Abiru’s constituents must have been pleased with his performance in his first term to give him an opportunity to return to the Senate.

Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu

Former Governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, might be dead and long gone, but his political influence and good will is still felt across the state till today. This has rubbed off positively on his first son, Olamijuwonlo, who was declared winner of the election in Ogbomosho North/South/ Oriire Federal Constituency by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The young AlaoAkala, a former Chairman of Ogbomosho North Local Government Area, contested the election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, polled 33,268 votes to beat his close rival, Olufemi Onireti of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who scored 27,126 votes. THEWILL recalls that a point in his political career, Olamijuwonlo’s father had to dump his ambition to contest as Governor of Oyo State on the platform of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) to form an alliance with the governorship candidate of the APC in 2019, Adebayo Adelabu. It was after that move that Olamijuwonlo was reinstated as chairman of Ogbomoso North LGA following his suspension for anti-party activities in 2019.

Mrs Ibori-Suenu, daughter of former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, floored the incumbent, Ben Rolands Igbakpa of the New Nigerian People Party, NNPP, to win the Federal House of Representatives Seat for Ethiope Constituency on the platform of the PDP. She polled 20,814 votes, while Igbakpa scored 8,901 votes. Ibori-Suenu had spent two terms in the Delta State House of Assembly before running for the Federal House of Representatives in the same constituency. The lawmaker relied on her father, who is considered a demi-god of sorts in the politics of Delta State, to achieve this feat.

Gana

The Winners

Adegboyega Adefarati Blessing Onuh

He is the eldest son of a former Minister of Information, Professor Jerry Gana. He emerged winner of the election in Lavun/Mokwa/ Edati Federal Constituency in Niger State on the platform of the PDP with 47,942 votes, defeating the incumbent, Hon Abdullahi Usman Gbatamangi who scored 40,002 votes.

Joshua Gana is the founder of Supertek Nigeria limited, a power generation and agriculture company that provides energy and agricultural products. He owns two independent power plants in Nigeria.

The son of former Ondo State Governor, late Chief Adebayo Adefarati, emerged winner of the election in Akoko Southwest and Southeast Federal Constituency. He scored 25,872 votes to beat his PDP rival who scored 18,403 votes. Adegboyega’s background as a grassroots politician obviously contributed to his success at the poll. He had contested twice for a seat in the House of Reps on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria, CAN, in 2011 and 2015, but lost on both occasions. He was appointed by President Umaru Yar’dua as a Board Member of the National Institute of Hotel and Tourism between 2009 and 2011. He was also the Coordinator of the Akeredolu Campaign Organisation for Akoko South-East/West Federal Constituency in the 2012 Governorship Election and subsequently, Director-General, Ondo North Senatorial District, Akeredolu Campaign Platform, 2016 and later, Commissioner for Agriculture in Ondo State.

Blessing Onuh is the daughter of former Senate President, David Mark. She won the election in Otukpo/Ohimini Federal Constituency on the platform of the APC, polling 29,031 votes to defeat her closest rival, Alex Ogbe of the PDP who scored 21, 741 votes. This is the second time she has emerged victorious at the parliamentary poll. The first time was on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.

It is obvious that along the line, Blessing learnt the rudiments of politics from her politician father, which clearly enabled her to hold political positions from an early age. For instance, she was appointed Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Education in 2005. Having performed creditably well, she got appointed as a Special Assistant to the Minister of Inter-Governmental, Local Government and Special Duties. While still holding the post, she served as an Acting Chairman, Federal Capital Territory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy. She was then appointed Secretary for the Social Welfare Secretariat in the Federal Capital Territory Administration. In 2018, she decided to make her debut in the mainstream political sphere. She contested for a position in the House of Representatives on the platform of the PDP in Benue State, but lost in the primaries to her uncle, Johnson Ahubi. She later defected to APGA and contested for election which she won to become a member of the House of Representative representing Otukpo/Ohimini federal constituency. In February 2021, Onuh defected to the APC, citing a crisis in Benue State APGA as the reason.

Akeem Adeyemi Sadiq Ango-Abdullahi

H

e is one of the sons of the late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi. Akeem, who has been a lawmaker for almost a decade, was reelected for the third time to represent Atiba/Afijio/Oyo East/Oyo West Federal Constituency on the platform of the APC. He was first elected to the House of Reps in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. The prince must have performed excellently well to be able to secure the support of the people of Oyo State for almost a decade.

Adeyemi scored a total of 34,822 votes to emerge winner of the election. He was the Chairman of Atiba Local Government Area between 2007 and 2010. He also served as caretaker chairman of the same LGA between 2011 and 2014.

Sadiq is the son of the Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, Professor Ango Abdullahi. His mother was the late Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan, also known as Mama Taraba.

Sadiq, a victim of the recent Abuja-Kaduna train terrorist attack, was declared winner of the election in Sabon-Gari Federal Constituency of Kaduna State with 33,616 votes, defeating the incumbent, Malam Garba Datti, a four-term house member who contested on the platform of the APC and polled 31,737 votes. Sadiq contested the election on the platform of the PDP.

Joshua

The losers

Babajide Ibrahim Obanikoro Omosede Igbinedion

It looks like this might just be the end of the Obanikoro political dynasty. First, the patriarch, Musiliu Babatunde Obanikoro, a former Minister of State of Defence was defeated by Idiat Adebule, a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State in the APC National Assembly primary. And now, his son, Babajide who was seeking a return to the House of Reps to represent Eti-Osa constituency on the platform of the APC lost to the Labour Party candidate, Thaddeus Attah.

Obanikoro came third with a total of 16, 901 votes. Babajide, who couldn't accept defeat, held a press conference to complain about the conduct of the election. Having initially lost the party’s primary to Oyekanmi Elegushi, brother of Oba Saheed Elegushi of Ikate Kingdom a few months ago, he had failed to read the handwriting on the wall. Elegushi had beaten him by two votes to emerge winner. He was forced to relinquish his position to Babajide after the party prevailed on him to do so. Now it seems the opportunity has been wasted.

Omosede is one of the daughters of the Esama of Benin kingdom, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion and sibling to Lucky Igbinedion, a former governor of Edo State. She put the necessary machinery in place to ensure her return to the House of Representatives to represent Ovia Federal Constituency in Edo State on the platform of the PDP a second time. Unfortunately, her political journey was cut short by her defeat at the poll by the incumbent, Hon Dennis Idahosa of the APC. This is Ms Igbinedion’s second defeat at the poll by the same opponent. The first was in 2019 when she was seeking re-election into the House of Representatives. Not satisfied with the outcome of the election, she had approached the Election Petition Tribunal in Benin City alleging that Idahosa was not qualified to contest because he was a citizen of Canada. She also claimed that he did not resign his appointment with the Federal Ministry of Environment as a member of the board of National Agency for Great Greenwall. Not satisfied, Omosede added in her petition that there was over-voting, forgery and falsification of results during the election. Her petition was thrown out for lack of proof. Alhough she accepted her dilemma and emerged PDP's candidate in 2023, Idahosa still trounced her at the polls, scoring 19,851 votes over her was 18, 396 votes.

Chinedum Orji Umar Ganduje Adeola Azeez

In spite of his position as Speaker of the 7th Abia State House of Assembly, Chinedum Orji, son of Sen. Theodore Orji, former governor of Abia State, lost the opportunity to represent Ikwuano/ Umuahia Federal Constituency in the House of Reps. He was trounced at the poll by the Labour Party candidate, Chief Obi Aguocha, who won the election, polling a total of 48,199 votes. Orji got 35,196 votes.

Controversial Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje's plan to build a political dynasty using his son, Umar, has backfired as the latter was trounced in the election. He was defeated by the incumbent, Tijjani Abudlkadir Jobe, the candidate of the NNPP.

Umar was hoping to represent Dawakin Tofa/Tofa/Rimingado Federal Constituency, but having polled 44, 809 votes against Jobe's 52, 456 votes, that dream died naturally and his political journey was cut short even before it began.

Although Adeola Azeez is the daughter of Yoruba elder statesman, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, not even her father's influence could get her a seat in the House of Reps to represent Ijebu Central Federal Constituency on the platform of the Social Democratic Party, SDP. The former Deputy Country Representative, Nigeria, Deutsche-Bank was defeated at the poll by the APC candidate, Barrister Femi Ogunbanwo. A seasoned banker and a onetime Chairperson of Women in Management, Business and Public Service, WIMBIZ, a non-governmental organisation that aims to promote women’s entrepreneurship and advancement across all sectors, Azeez had hoped to use her wealth of experience to bring developmental changes to her constituency. Unfortunately it looks like she will have to wait it out for another four years to try again.

STORIES BY IVORY UKONU

UNVEILING MRS IFEYINWA

GBADEBO VIVOUR-RHODES

cerebral of all the wives of the top contenders.

The Ties That Bind Bola Tinubu, George Akume, Bukar Abba Ibrahim Together

As the 2023 governorship election draws near, while most people know who the top contenders are in some of the states considered very crucial, not much is known about their better halves. The wives of the gubernatorial candidates are worth knowing, not only because having them as first ladies has gone beyond them having only ceremonial value but also because they go a long way to determine the inner workings of the mind of these contenders, at least to a large extent.

Due to space constraint, this short piece will only focus on Dr Ifeyinwa Aniebo, the wife of Gbadebo Vivour-Rhodes, the gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party. This is because, Ify as she is fondly called, seems to be the most

At only 40, the Anambra Stateborn scientist is an international scholar of repute and an influential leader of thought in the global public health space. She is a molecular geneticist. She holds a first degree in Medical Genetics from Queen Mary University of London, a Master of Science in Applied Biomolecular Technology from Nottingham University, United Kingdom and another Masters in Global Health Science from Oxford University. She also has another Masters in Clinical Medicine from the same Oxford University and a PhD in Clinical Medicine and Infectious Tropical Disease which she obtained on a fully funded scholarship. While studying for her Ph.D., Ify was the youngest person, the only black person, and the only Nigerian in the Wellcome-Oxford-WHO unit in Thailand and the Malaria Department at the Sanger Institute in Cambridge, two of the world's top genetic research institutions. A sterling global career spanning Europe, East Asia and Africa, has seen Ify become a world acclaimed infectious disease expert, working on malaria drug resistance and implications for an effective vaccine development. She is currently a visiting scientist and a Takemi

Fellow in International Health at Harvard School of Public Health as well as an associate scientist at the Board Institute of Harvard and MIT. At the same time, she is carrying out the first ever national genomic survey in Nigeria with the aim of strengthening Nigeria's surveillance system for elimination by integrating molecular and genomic data.

She has an initiative, Afroscientric, which focuses on bridging the huge gap in young African women getting into the science field. In the past, Ify worked to find a cure for malaria by conducting Clinical Research in Thailand, conducting Field work along the Thai-Laos Border, and presenting her work at the 21st World Malaria conference in Mae Sot and the Genome conference in Cambridge. She also collaborated with a research unit in Rwanda, focusing on Plasmodium Falciparum strains from the country.

A recipient of several awards and honours, in 2010, Ify was crowned Scientist of the Year and Young Person of the Year at The Future Awards. In 2016, she was made an ASPEN fellow and she was been honoured twice by former president Goodluck Jonathan as one of the country's top young innovators. She was also honoured by Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, on innovation in science. These are just a few to mention. Ify's father is Augustine Aniebo, a retired army general who served as military administrator of Borno State during the regime of late General Sani Abacha. he was also the military administrator of Kogi State from August 1998 to May 1999 during the transitional administration of General Abdulsalami Abubakar.

Gbajabiamila Joins Exclusive Club of Longest-Serving Lawmakers

Although there is no law stipulating the number of years a lawmaker is expected to spend as a member of the national assembly, not a few have abused this privilege and have chosen to remain 'landlords,' as long as members of their constituents keep voting (legitimately or otherwise) for their return. Some have argued that the absence of a constitutional provision of term limit for lawmakers is because the legislature is a peculiar institution, thus making long-serving lawmakers, valuable assets to the legislature by providing stability and a pool for recruiting leadership. While some have spent time ranging between 10 to 15 years, others have crossed the rubicon of a decent time to step aside. These set of people have spent up to 20 years.

While the likes of Senator David Mark, Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, the current senate president, are

considered veterans in this regard, with Mark further distinguishing himself with the title of the longest serving Senate President, for eight years, others like Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, is already getting set to replicate Mark and Lawan's feat with his re-election.

By May 29, he will begin his sixth term in the House.

Gbajabiamila won his first election into the House in 2003 to represent Surulere 1 Federal Constituency of Lagos State at the age of 40. He first served as House Minority Whip from 2007, and later became Minority Leader, a position he held up to 2015. In 2019, he became the Speaker. It remains to be seen if his colleagues will re-elect him again as speaker later this year. While Mark did not seek reelection, Lawan is

AN INCUMBENT AT POLL

The trio of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the president-elect; Senator George Akume and Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, have a few things in common. They have all been former governors, they were all governors from 1999, at the start of the democratic dispensation, in Lagos, Benue and Yobe States respectively. They have all been SenatorsTinubu during the brief Third Republic; Akume between 2011 to 2015 and Ibrahim between 2007 and 2015. One last thing they all have in common is all trio putting their wives in the national assembly as lawmakers. While Tinubu's wife, Remi, is a serving Senator and has been for three terms, one of the more cerebral wives of Ibrahim, Khadija is a current member of the Federal House of Representatives. She was first elected in 2007, reelected in 2011 and 2015.

In 2019 after resigning her appointment as the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, she returned to the house for a fourth term. Following in the footsteps of his

former colleagues, Akume who is the current minister of special duties and intergovernmental affairs, ensured that his wife, Regina got elected to the House of Representative in the just concluded National Assembly elections on the platform of All Progressives Congress. Regina dislodged the incumbent, John Dyeh of the Peoples Democratic Party by a wide margin. She will be representing the people of Tarka/Gboko federal constituency. Hopefully, she ends up not becoming just another number but one whose inputs in bills that will affect lives positively, will be felt.

Karma Served Piping Hot to Abdulsalam Zaura

returning having used the court to displace the rightful candidate, Bashir Sheriff Machina for a seventh term, to represent Yobe North Senatorial Constituency.

Perhaps he rode on the rising popularity of the Labour Party and the influence of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi. Or maybe the groundwork he laid prior to his declaration to run for office made his emergence as a lawmaker-elect possible. Whatever the reason, Donatus Mathew, a motorcycle (Okada) rider succeeded in trouncing Hon. Giden Gwani, a four-term member of the House of Representatives who was the minority Chief Whip in the lower chamber. Mathew will be replacing Gwani come May 29 as the representative of Kaura Federal Constituency, Kaduna State. Gwani must have thought that an Okada man stood no chance against him, a veteran who has been in the game long enough to know what it takes to persuade the electorates to allow him return to the House for a fifth term. Little did he know that fate had other things in store for him. Mathew had started out his political career as a Councillor in his ward, but the rising inflation and other life's vicissitudes reduced him to an Okada rider.

It appears karma has finally caught up with Abdulsalam Abdulkarim Zaura aka AA Zaura, the Kano State businessman and politician who was seeking to win a Senatorial seat on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, in February 25th general elections. Zaura who had planned to represent Kano Central District was heavily trounced at the polls. Thus putting an end to his plans to use his senatorial position to buy himself 'immunity' from prosecution for committing fraud. Zaura was accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) of duping a Kuwaiti national, Jamman AlAzmi, of the sum of $1.3 million

under the pretext of procuring a real estate for him in Dubai. The Commission had dragged him before a Federal High Court in Kano on a five-count charge. The court found him not guilty and discharged him on all counts. Dissatisfied, the EFCC filed an appeal and a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of judges, which set aside the judgment of the high court and ordered Zaura to be tried afresh by a different judge. But each time the court convened to hear his case, Zaura or his counsel were never available together for various reasons, ranging from the frivolous to the very ridiculous. Right from 2020 when Zaura was first arraigned, he perfected the act of dodging the fraud charges by cleverly evading court summons. That was until he was arrested at his home and forcefully presented in court on February 6. Unfortunately, the case had to be adjourned for the umpteenth time to March 1 when Zaura employed a different tactic by changing counsel. And on the said day, after suffering defeat at the polls, days before, he humbly presented himself in court were he pleaded not guilty, asked to continue with the terms of the bail earlier granted him and the case adjourned again to May 2.

MEET DONATUS MATHEW, 'OKADA MAN’ WHO DEFEATED

Mathew

Gbadebo-Rhodes

Akume

Gbajabiamila

Zaura

STORIES BY SHADE WESLEY-METIBOGUN

ELISHA ABBO WINS SENATORIAL SEAT

Controversial politician, Ishaku

Elisha Abbo, has won the Adamawa Northern Senatorial district on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the second time. The senator who launched into the limelight for assaulting a woman in a sex toy shop polled a total of 71,927 votes to defeat his opponent, Reverend Yohanna Amos of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP. His victory was greeted with wild jubilation by his supporters, who considered the contest a tug of war. But Abbo scaled some hurdles before clinching the senatorial district.

He was once axed by his party for speaking out against its MuslimMuslim presidential ticket. He had gone on a live television to criticise the presidential candidate of his party, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu. His utterance led to his expulsion from the party. After which a high court in Yola nullified his nomination as the candidate of the APC for the Northern Senatorial District of Adamawa State.

The court ruled that Abbo was not entitled to seek re-election having been expelled by his ward chapter of

the APC. The politician had to run to the Yola Division of the Court of Appeal to fight for his political ambition. He was however cleared by the Appeal Court to represent his party at the 2023 election.

Aside from the court cases instituted to fight for his political ambition, the controversial politician has been a regular face in the courtroom. He was charged to court for assault in 2019.

Abbo had visited a sex toy shop where he assaulted a woman, Osimibibra Warmate in 2019.

Though he later apologized publicly for his mistake, he had to turn himself in to the police and was charged to court with a fine of N50 million naira as compensation to the woman. However, a magistrate court dismissed the assault case. His controversial lifestyle also extends to the home front as he has been called out for domestic violence which led to the death of Uche Eucharia Ojukwu, his second wife in 2013.

Bode George, Olajide Adediran End Rift

Achieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olabode George and the party's governorship candidate in Lagos State, Dr. Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran, more popularly known as Jandor, have put their differences aside and embraced peace. The duo ended their cold war and reconciled during a unity meeting held by their political party. George had accused Jandor of breaching an agreement on the party’s governorship candidate’s running-mate selection.

Ojukwu had met Abbo while she was serving in Nasarawa State. They became lovers and got married in 2009. Then, his first wife who had a son for him had just left him. Abbo turned Ojukwu to his punching bag. He would beat her up and lock her half naked outside their house. He later allegedly started brandishing a pistol just to scare her and silence her. He allegedly infected her with HIV which led to many medical complications because it was not discovered on time. While she was sick and dying in the hospital, Abbo allegedly abandoned her and it was her family that were taking care of her until she died of kidney failure.

Aderinokun, Amosun Count Their Losses

Olumide Aderinokun, the Ogun Central senatorial district candidate under the platform of the People's Democratic Party, PDP has lost his seat to the opposition candidate and former Chief of Staff to Dapo Abidoun, Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, also known as SAS of the All Progressive Congress, APC. Aderinokun, who is brother to late co-founder of Guaranty Trust Bank, Tayo Aderinokun scored a total of 37 votes while his opponent, SAS scored 136 votes. Many were surprised when the result of the election was announced because Aderinokun seemed more grounded and popular than Salisu. More so, the former governor of Ogun state, Ibikunle Amosun threw his weight behind Aderinokun's political ambition. Amosun canvassed for Aderinokun by instructing his foot soldiers to ensure they do all within their power to see that the PDP candidate emerge victorious at the poll. Amosun who is a card-carrying member of the APC has vowed not to support Dapo Abidoun, despite the fact that they

both belong to the same party. The two have not been best of friends because of a rift between them, as a result of that, Amosun has been planning and working against Abidoun and his party. He threw his weight behind Biyi Otegbeye, the governorship candidate of African Democratic Congress, ADC. It was gathered that the former governor supported Aderinokun to occupy the Ogun Central senatorial district

seat he is currently occupying in the senate because of Aderinokun's father whom he has a father-son relationship with. He felt his support would further solidify the bond between the two families. Since ADC did not have a senatorial candidate, he threw his weight behind Aderinokun. However, Amosun’s influence and support played no significant role as the PDP candidate lost at the polls.

The PDP chieftain stated that Jandor, flouted the agreement to make Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour his running mate instead of Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele. Adding that, Jandor's decision to pick Akindele, as running mate forced Rhodes-Vivour who was in PDP before to join the Labour Party as its standard bearer for the Lagos governorship election. While granting an interview on television and clearing air about the allegation made against him, Jandor stated that he chose Akindele because of her influence and disagreed with George's

version of the selection process. Many pointed accusing fingers at Jandor then and made allegations that the governorship candidate was accusing the party's national leader of lying. He quickly denied the allegation but it had caused a rift between them. A few months after the drama, all seems to be in the past now as George has stated that there is no disagreement in the party. He boasted of his

support for Jandor ahead of the governorship election and stated that Lagosians will vote en masse for him. He also enjoined everyone to support the party’s candidate so that they can win during the election. The governorship candidate thanked George for putting their past behind and commended him for his untiring efforts towards ensuring peace reign.

New York Stock Exchange Honours Gbenga Agboola

Gbenga Agboola, the Chief Executive Officer of leading payment technology company, Flutterwave has been honoured at the New York Stock Exchange. Agboola was privileged to ring the closing bell for the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE last week. The event was part of the Founder’s Day celebration in honour of Black History Month, which recognizes the achievements, contributions, and history of African Americans who are making significant strides in all areas of life. Ringing of the closing bell by the tech guru is a significant milestone for the African technology industry. It underscores the talent and innovation that exists in Africa and showcases the continent’s potential to make an impact on the global stage. It also attest to the fact that Agboola can still make a difference in the tech world despite

the challenges his company had faced over the years. This development is coming when Flutterwave is trying so hard to regain its reputation after a series of controversies. Flutterwave had recently been cleared of financial impropriety in Kenya after charges against them were dropped. A Kenyan High Court had frozen the accounts of the company, accusing it of money laundering. The Nigerian firm was one of seven entities suspected to have been used as conduits for money laundering and card fraud in the guise of providing merchant services, according to authorities in Kenya. In its efforts to regain its glory, the fintech company had made a move to acquire another British fintech company, Railsr and expand its operation. While sponsoring the largest reality show in Africa, Big Brother Titans in order to increase its operation.

How Ebele Obiano Fell From Grace to Grass

Ebelechukwu Obiano, the wife of former governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, has fallen from grace to grass. The former first lady who enjoyed attention, respect and admiration of the people of Anambra State became a laughing stock after her husband quit his political ambition. Her downfall started during the inauguration of the governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Soludo. Obiano had engaged in an altercation with the widow of the late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Bianca at the inauguration ceremony. A slight shuffle ensued which was followed by a slap from Ojukwu to Obiano. The timely intervention of people around prevented a fight from breaking out. A lot of people blamed Obiano after the infamous fight and slap for looking for Ojukwu's trouble. She later apologized for her unruly

behavior while declaring her ambition to join the race for the Anambra North Senatorial District election under the platform of All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA. Not long after her political ambition was made known, the Anambra North Elders for Good Governance and Quality Representation, rose up against her while accusing her of playing dark roles during her husband’s tenure as governor of the state. They made it known that they will not support her political ambition because she didn't have a good track record during her husband’s tenure. Some of her close friends advised her to drop her political ambition and rather stay quiet while enjoying her peace because of the numerous controversies trailing her. However, the former first lady was not bothered by the challenges but continued to forge ahead. While

campaigning at the Onitsha main market a few weeks ago, she and her husband were booed and humiliated. They had to leave the campaign venue in shame. Obiano eventually lost the senatorial seat during the just concluded election to Labour Party candidate, Tony Nwoye.

THEWILLNIGERIA THEWILLNG THEWILLNIGERIA

Abbo

Adediran George

Agboola

Amosun Aderinokun Obiano

SHOTS OF THE WEEK

Photo Editor: Peace Udugba [08033050729]

L-R: M/D/CEO, Starzs Investments Company Limited, Iroghama Ogbeifun; CEO, Tsavo Oilfield Services, Eng. Elizabeth Rogo; GM, Legal and Corporate Services, Dorman Long Engineering Ltd, Mrs. Nkeiru Mgbeoji and Chairman, Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Mr. Nicolas Odinuwe at the (SAIP) Exhibition and Conference held in Lagos on February 18, 2023.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo SAN, (right), presented with books from Chief Executive Officer/CEO, E+234Express, John Adoga, during the courtesy visit paid to him by the Reading against Intolerance Initiative team at the State House, Abuja. March 2, 2023.

Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State (right) receiving a souvenir from the Commandant of National Defence College, Rear Admiral Murtala Mormoni Bashir, in appreciation of a Lecture delivered by the Governor at the College in Imo State on February18, 2023 .

L-R: One of the newly inaugurated judges of the Ekiti State Customary Court of Appeal, Adesoji Adegboye; President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Monisola Oluwatoyin Abodunde; Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji; newly sworn in judges of the court, Olufunke Ogundele Esq and Lawrence Ojo Esq at the swearing-in ceremony in Ado-Ekiti on February 2, 2023.

Speaker, House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila (2nd left) with wife, Mrs. Salamatu Gbajabiamila (left) and others while presenting a key of a bus to a beneficiary of the faith-based organisations at the Gbajabiamila Empowerment Programme held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos on February 23, 2023.

L-R: Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo and Secretary, Truth, Justice and Peace Commission, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, during the presentation of the Commission report to the Governor in Akwa Anambra State on February 17, 2023.

Buhari Commissions 700 Made-In-Nigeria Troop-Carrying Vehicles

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, in Daura, Katsina State, said the sacrifices of the Armed Forces remained appreciated by Nigerians, commending the patriotic role they played in maintaining law and order at the justconcluded Presidential and National Assembly elections.

In a statement, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said President Buhari spoke on Friday, during a virtual commissioning of 700 Ashok Leyland Troop Carriers assembled in Lagos. Speaking from his country home in Daura, Katsina State, the President pledged more support for the welfare of the military, while assuring that their “labour will not be in vain.

“I wish to commend the resolve of our armed forces towards the defeat of insurgency and its support in maintaining law and order as was demonstrated in the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections.

“I want to assure you all that your labour will not be in vain. This administration will continue to support you in every respect, including improving your welfare", he said, adding that the war against terrorism and criminality in the country will be sustained, and boosted with supplies of hardware and better care for the security outfits.

“Moving forward. I charge you to consolidate on the gains we have achieved, towards sustaining the peace and stability of the country.

“Let me firmly assure Nigerians that the Federal Government remains steadfast and committed to winning the war against insurgency and other criminalities. Surely, the Federal Government will not rest on its oars until Nigeria and indeed Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora are free from the menace of terrorism and other forms of harm", he said.

Buhari noted that the vehicles would increase the capability of the Armed

NEWS XTRA

Why We’ll Get Involved in Politics — NLC President

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says it will continue to get involved in politics in order to bring matters surrounding the welfare of workers to the front burner of programmes and policies of government.

The NLC President, Mr Joe Ajaero, made the assertion during courtesy visits to some labour unions in Lagos on Thursday.

The unions include National Union of Electricity Employees; National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions, as well as Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers.

Ajaero said that the labour movement owned the Labour Party (LP).

According to him, LP is a party that has the ideology of the working class movement with its charter of workers’ demands.

“We have an era that we are entering: era of politics, and we will not shy away.

Edo, Delta, 5 Other PDP States Discontinue Suit

Forces, especially their combat efficiency levels.

“I am pleased to be invited here today as the Special Guest of honour at the commissioning of the 700 Ashok Leyland Troop-Carrying Vehicles procured by the Federal Government of Nigeria. These vehicles, I understand, were assembled by Stallion Motors Limited at Ojo, Lagos.

“This is an important milestone in the annals of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, especially the troops engaged in operations in various theatres. This demonstrates the commitment and importance the Federal Government attaches to the fight against insurgency, criminalities and welfare of personnel", he said.

President Buhari said the activities of nonstate actors and transnational criminals had impacted the overall security architecture of the nation, noting that the threats were not peculiar to Nigeria.

“These threats are not peculiar to Nigeria alone, they have impacted negatively on global, regional and sub–regional peace and security environments, giving rise to massive continental immigration, internally displaced persons and grave humanitarian crises for nations to grapple with.

“Consequently, most governments employ varying degrees of hard and soft power elements to curtail this prevailing insecurity", he said.

In the past seven years plus, President Buhari affirmed that the Federal Government was able to revitalise the Armed Forces to fully restore Nigeria’s territorial integrity that was once violated by the Boko Haram insurgents and other forms of criminalities in the country.

“Some of you may recall that in my inaugural speech as president, I promised to put an end to the Boko Haram insurgency which hitherto had posed a grave threat to Nigeria’s territorial integrity. In fulfilling this promise, I made professionalism and capacity building of the armed forces a major security policy thrust of my administration.

Edo, Sokoto and five other states have filed a notice before the Supreme Court to discontinue their suit challenging the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

THEWILL earlier reported that Edo, Delta, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Taraba, and Sokoto States had on February 28, filed a suit before the apex court, seeking to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to review the results of last Saturday’s election.

Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), who filed the suit on behalf of the AttorneysGeneral of the states as plaintiffs, had argued that there was a flagrant breach of the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022; the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, 2022; and the INEC Manual for Election Officials, 2023, requiring transmission of the collated result of the February 25 polls, directly at the polling units by the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

In the originating summons marked: SC/CV/354/2023, the plaintiffs sought an order of the apex court, “directing a holistic review of all results so far announced by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which were carried out other than through the manner prescribed by the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, 2022; and the INEC Manual for Election Officials".

However, the plaintiffs on Friday, applied to the apex court to discontinue the suit. The "Notice of Discontinuance" seen by THEWILL, was signed by their lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN).

Dated March 3, 2023, the notice reads: “Take notice that the plaintiffs do hereby wholly discontinue this suit against the defendant herein.”

“The Nigeria Labour Congress will be involved in politics; we are already involved in politics; NLC had a political party: the Labour Party (LP), and LP participated in the recent elections.

“Nigeria must exist before we practice our unionism; anybody, who emerges as the President of Nigeria will work with us, and the rights and privileges of the workers must be guaranteed.

“The current wage system, casualisation policy, and outsourcing are anti-worker; with such policies, we can’t be our brothers’ keepers,” he said.

The labour leader encouraged union members to show interest in politics, saying, “we have not been managing it by ourselves; we have been allowing people from outside to now answer LP”.

He urged members to continue enlightening workers in the country about the LP.

“That is what we are going to impose on them; even the ones that have emerged as senators or House of Representatives members, they must, as a necessity, meet with us and we will give them our programmes.

“That is the whole essence of thinking of LP in the first place; so that their actions, inactions, and utterances will reflect the affairs of the labour movement, and there should be no pretences about it.

“We are not saying that people cannot belong to any party of their choice, but we have a party where whatever we discuss here, we take it there as workers.

“Where, if we want new minimum wage, we take it to the people that represent us there; all these issues concern the workers, and we should no longer shy away from it,” Ajaero said.

In his remarks, the President, NUEE, Mr Martin Uzoegwu, said that the decision of the NLC president to undertake the courtesy visit could not have come at a better time.

Uzoegwu said: “Within a few days of your assumption of office as NLC president, your impact resonates across the nation through your unequivocal position on the ongoing Nigeria national elections, emphasising against subverting the will of the people; serious engagement of state governments who have denied workers their rights and the release of locked congress secretariat in a state, just to mention a few.”

Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat (2nd right); Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr Hakeem Fahm (right); Special Adviser to the Governor on Enterprise, Geographic Information System (EGIS) & Planning Matters, Dr. Olajide Babatunde (left) and others during the inspection of the Aerial Survey Aircraft (ASA) for the 2023 Mapping and Update of the Lagos State Spatial Data Infrastructure for the eGIS Project, at Dominion Hangar, Murtala Mohammed Local Airport, Ikeja on February 27, 2023.

Super Eagles’ Stars Soaring in Europe’s Elite Leagues

BY JUDE OBAFEMI

The Nigerian football community has reason to celebrate as members of the Super Eagles squad continue to light up the top leagues in Europe with their impressive performances.

In Italy, Victor Osimhen has been a standout performer for Napoli with his explosive pace and clinical finishing, making him a constant threat in the opposition box. Meanwhile, Terem Moffi has hit the ground running in his new club Nice in France, quickly becoming a fan favourite with his fearless play and eye for goal.

In England, Kelechi Iheanacho has enjoyed a resurgence in form, scoring crucial goals for Leicester City and earning himself the Premier League Player of the Month nomination for February. And in Spain, Samuel Chukwueze has continued to dazzle with his effervescent skills and blistering pace, helping Villarreal to steady their tottering campaign and realistically challenge for a spot in Europe next season. SportsLive delves into the excellence of these Nigerian strikers and explores how their top form is essential for the success of the Super Eagles on the international stage. Napoli’s Osimhen has lit up this campaign in the Serie A that he easily makes headlines in the world of football with every match. The 24-year-old Nigerian international striker has become one of the most sought-after talents because of how impressive a 2022/2023 campaign he is having. With a total of 21 goals, Osimhen is proving to be one of the deadliest finishers in Europe. This was again obvious when he scored against Empoli as he remarkably equalled Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of scoring in eight consecutive Serie A matches. The record was set by Ronaldo in February 2020, where he netted 11 goals

Napoli’s

during that run. Osimhen has netted 10 across his last 11 outings since January 8th, including a brace against Fiorentina.

Only Liberia’s President and soccer legend George Weah stands ahead of Osimhen in the all-time Serie A goal charts for players from Africa. Weah scored 46 goals in the Italian top flight across his 114 Serie A outings for AC Milan, while Osimhen has already scored 43 goals in 71 league outings since his bigmoney signing for the I Partenopei from Lille in 2020. It is a record that is likely to fall in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Osimhen’s remarkable form is attracting the attention of English Premier League clubs. Manchester United and Chelsea are reportedly interested in securing his signature in the summer window. However, the striker insists his focus is solely on Napoli and helping them secure their first Serie A

Osimhen has lit up this campaign in the Serie A that he easily makes headlines in the world of football with every match

Iheanacho

...Stars Soaring In Europe’s Elite Leagues

title since the days of Diego Maradona in 1990.

Osimhen is putting words to action as evident in Napoli’s recent match against Empoli. Osimhen’s 28th-minute goal helped Napoli secure a vital 2-0 win. The victory extended Napoli’s lead to 18 points over Inter Milan, who dropped points in their match against Bologna. Osimhen has now notched 21 goals in 25 outings across all competitions this term, including 19 in 20 in the Italian top flight. His recent performances have made him a top contender to be recognised at FIFA’s The Best by this time next year.

Osimhen is not the only Nigerian striker making headlines this season. Moffi, who could potentially lead the line for the Nigeria national side alongside Osimhen, had an outstanding performance in the French Ligue 1 for OGC Nice. Moffi scored twice and registered an assist as Nice defeated Monaco 3-0 away from home in the Riviera Derby. The 23-year-old has scored 34 goals since moving to Les Merlus from Kortrijk in October 2020, making him one of the most promising young strikers in Europe. Nice parted with an initial €2.5m to recruit Moffi on loan, as well as an obligatory €22.5m-buy clause, as well as a €5 million potential add-on. It’s a statement of their ambition as they look to oust some of French football’s traditional heavyweights and break back into the continental qualifying berths.

Moffi finally opened his goal-scoring account for his new club, OGC Nice, after taking 260 minutes spread across four matches. He had been struggling to find his feet in Ligue 1 since the January move and when it came, it was a burst of vigour and a resounding success. Moffi scored a brace in that 3-0 win at the Derby de la Côte d’Azur, extending their unbeaten run to eight games in the league. The equally impressive Khephren Thuram-Ulien added the third goal as Les Aiglon ran out with the 3-0 victory, which moved them up to seventh in Ligue 1. Moffi's goals took his tally to 14 in 22 appearances this season in Ligue 1, with an assist to his name.

THEWILL recalls that Moffi had been a prolific scorer for Lorient in recent seasons, scoring 12 from 18 games in the first half of the current campaign. However, it took him some time to get going with Les Aiglons, and he swept away doubts and proved doubters wrong and showed why Nice splashed €30m on him. His performance earned the adulation of their manager Didier Digard, who insisted that while others questioned the transfer, especially as Moffi was trying to find his feet, that he never doubted the quality of his new signing.

Moffi's brace against Monaco was historic, as he became the first player to score two goals or more at Monaco since Mario Balotelli bagged a brace in a 2-2 draw at the Stade Louis II back in January 2018. Meanwhile, the Nigerian forward has taken his haul to 14 in the French topflight division with his brace, moving within three strikes of Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe, who is leading the way with 17 goals after his brace against Marseille, thus edging closer in the race for the Ligue 1 Golden Boot award for the 2022/2023 season. In the upcoming matches, the 23-year-old will fancy his chances of leapfrogging Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun and Lille’s Jonathan David, who are joint-second with 15 goals. Moffi’s best goal-scoring return in a single season is 20 for Lithuanian outfit Riteriai in 2019.

His sensational performance earned him a spot in the Ligue 1 Team of the Week, where he was rated 9/10, the same as Mbappe, while Messi scored 8/10. Moffi's performance has shown that he has what it takes to make a significant impact for Nice, and fans will be eagerly anticipating his next match.

Over in England, Iheanacho has been turning heads in the English Premier League lately, with a string

of impressive performances for his club, Leicester City. In recognition of his excellent form in February, Iheanacho has been nominated for the EPL Player of the Month (POTM) award. The 26-year-old forward played in four league games during the month, helping Leicester City to win two of them. His contribution was instrumental in securing victories over Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur. Iheanacho scored two goals and provided three assists during this period, making him

a strong contender for the award.

Iheanacho’s form has also extended to cup competitions, where he has been a key player for Leicester City in the FA Cup, which he helped them win last season. On February 28th, he scored his third goal of the season in this competition in Leicester City’s match against Blackburn Rovers. While the team ultimately lost this match 2-1, Iheanacho’s goal helped him enter the FA Cup’s top ten scorer’s chart. For the POTM award, he faces stiff competition from the five other players shortlisted, including Marcus Rashford of Manchester United and Emerson Royal of Tottenham Hotspur. However, Iheanacho’s recent form suggests that he has a strong chance of winning the award, as well as making a significant impact in the remainder of the season.

Lastly, in La Liga, Villarreal’s Chukwueze has been on top of his game this season, as he continues to produce impressive performances for the Yellow Submarine. The 23-year-old Nigerian international has been a standout player for the team, and his latest display on Monday night was no exception. Chukwueze was in superb form during Villarreal’s match against Getafe, which they won 2-1 at the Estadio La Ceramica. The match against Getafe was a crucial one for Villarreal, who had suffered four consecutive defeats in La Liga before the game. The forward was on the scoresheet, netting his third La Liga goal of the season, and also provided an assist to help his team secure the victory. This was Chukwueze’s second La Liga game in which he both scored and assisted, the first time being against Barcelona in April 2019. Following his impressive showing, Chukwueze was named in the La Liga Team of the Week, a well-deserved recognition for his efforts. The winger has been enjoying a fantastic season, with a career-best 18 goal involvements (10 goals and 8 assists) in all competitions, which is a significant improvement from his contributions in the previous season.

Chukwueze has always been known for his mesmerizing skills on the ball, but his goals and assists tallies have been inconsistent in the past. However, this season, he has found more of his shots on target, resulting in more goals. In addition, his link-up play has also improved, as he is setting up his teammates in more dangerous positions than ever before. In terms of statistics, Chukwueze’s shots on target percentage has increased from 22% last season to 30% this season. He is also averaging 0.52 goal-creating actions per game, an improvement from his 0.47 average from the previous season. If he continues to improve his form in front of goal and decision-making, he could become one of the most lethal wingers in La Liga and Europe. He has scored four goals in the Copa Del Rey, two in the Europa Conference League, and one in the Europa Champions League qualifiers, making him one of Villarreal’s key players.

In conclusion, the impressive performances of Nigerian strikers in the top five leagues in Europe is a positive development for Nigerian football. The likes of Victor Osimhen, Terem Moffi, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Samuel Chukwueze are playing a key role in their respective clubs and helping to raise the profile of Nigerian football on the global stage. Honourable mentions must be made of other players of the national team such as Ademola Lookman of Atalanta, Alex Iwobi of Everton, Moses Simon of Nantes, Wilfred Ndidi of Leicester and, although he is outside Europe, Odion Ighalo of Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia. As we look ahead to the future of Nigerian football, it is clear that these players, and others like them, will play a vital role in the success of the Super Eagles. If they can maintain their current form and continue to improve, while transitioning between club and country, there is every reason to believe that Nigerian football can achieve great things in the years to come.

Moffi Chukwueze