A key senatorial committee on Wednesday voted 13-8 to advance the nomination of Eric Garcetti as US Ambassador to India. Garcetti, 52, is the former mayor of Los Angeles and his nomination has been pending before the US Congress since July 2021, when he was nominated for this prestigious diplomatic posting by President Joe Biden. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee at its business meeting on Wednesday voted 13-8 in favor of the nomination of Garcetti. Now the nomination heads to the Senate floor for a fill vote. Two Republican Senators — Todd Young and Bill Hagerty — Wednesday afternoon…
Author: Ifeanyi Nwagboso
The All Progressives Congress (APC) said it respects the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the governorship and state house of assembly elections. The national exercise was Wednesday night moved from Saturday 11th March to Saturday 18th March 2023. The shift followed the ruling by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) used for the presidential election. APC noted INEC’s assurance that data from the presidential and national assembly elections will be properly backed up on its cloud facilities. A statement on Thursday by National Publicity Secretary, Felix…
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Plateau Central Senatorial Zone, Golkuna Gotom has called on the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and Plateau State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Oliver Agundu to prevail on the Returning Officer of Plateau Central Senatorial zone to declare the correct results. He also alleged that there were mutilation of the aforementioned results, wrong computing and allocation of votes to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He also decried the none usage of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) in some electoral wards in Kanam…
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar has been urged to vacate the political scene for the Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi and New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso. This was as Atiku was urged to retire from active politics and return to Dubai where he is based. Deji Adeyanju, a socio-political activist made the call in a tweet on Thursday. “Atiku should go back to Dubai and retire from politics. He should exit the scene and leave Kwankwaso & Obi to become the new perpetual contestants,” Adeyanju wrote. Atiku came second in the just…
The Osun State Governor, Ademola Nurudeen Adeleke on Thursday presented bond certificates to contributory pensioners in the state. Altogether, bond certificates worth N1.528 billion were presented to retired workers from both the state civil service and local government service. The sum of N350 million was equally released as gratuities to retired staff of primary and secondary schools, tertiary institutions, civil servants and staff of parastatals. Addressing the beneficiaries, Governor Adeleke apologised on behalf of the state government for the ill-treatment experienced in the past by retirees. In his words: “Permit me to first apologize, on behalf of Osun State to…
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the February 25 election, Peter Obi, felicitated with Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the LP governorship candidate in Lagos State on his 40th birthday celebration. Obi, in a statement via his verified Twitter handle on Wednesday, wished Rhodes-Vivour victory in the forthcoming gubernatorial polls, which according to him would usher in a new and better Lagos. Rhodes-Vivour will be challenging the incumbent governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Abdulazeez Adediran of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the highly coveted seat. “Dear @GRVlagos, on behalf of my family, and the…
Ahead of the March 11 governorship and National Assembly elections in Katsina State, the campaign council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has hatched plans to import thugs from Kano and Zamfara states to mar the process. Calling on security agencies, INEC and the general public to take note of the alleged plot, the Director General of the Katsina APC Campaign Council, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, at a press conference on Tuesday evening said: “The Peoples Democratic Party have resolved to foment trouble having realised that they are going to lose the March…
The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Wednesday, turned down the request of the Labour Party’s Presidential candidate, Mr Peter Gregory Obi seeking to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from reconfiguring the BVAS equipment used for the conduct of the February 25 Presidential election. The Court held that granting the request would jeopardize the electoral body in the conduct of the March 11 governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections. The Court agreed with INEC that information on accreditation contained in the BVAS devices had been uploaded into its back up server and could be accessed at any time.…
The students from all tertiary institutions in Ogun State have called on their parents, guardians and all the good people of the state to come out en masse on Saturday to vote for Prince Dapo Abiodun, Ogun State Governor to actualise his re-election bid so as to continue with the good work he is doing in the state, especially the transformation going on in the education sector in the state. The students made the call under the auspices of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), National Association of Ogun State Students (NAOSS), National Association of University Students (NAUS), the Progressive…
In a startling revelation of intelligence input, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns claimed that Beijing is still determining whether its potential invasion of Taiwan would be successful. He said that US intelligence shows that Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed his nation’s military to “be ready by 2027” to invade Taiwan. However, he might be harbouring doubts about his ability to do so, given Russia’s experience in its invasion of Ukraine – it is likely to intensify doubts among Chinese leader Xi Jinping and top military officials about the success of the Chinese military invading Taiwan.…
A group, under the auspices of Youth Alliance for Tinubu (YAT) has described the Presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) as bad losers, going by their recent actions. The group while reacting to a recent protest staged by the PDP over the outcome of the presidential election, said the candidate who emerged victorious worked hard to earn the votes of the people, not by intimidation and protest. At a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, the National Coordinator of the group, Bello Bala Shagari noted that no political…
The Middle Belt Forum (MBF), has called on the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, to honourably resign his position before the next election for frittering away billions of Naira on a technology that he did not intend to use in the 2023 general elections. The MBF National President, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, in a statement, advised Judges to remain on the side of justice and ensure the wheel of justice is not compromised as political parties and candidates head to the Election Petition Tribunal. He said, “We call on the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu to toe the honourable path by…
Edo North Senator-elect Adams Oshiomhole said the 10th Senate would not be a runner stamp for President-elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu after its inauguration. The former Edo governor gave the assurance on Tuesday in Abuja at the presentation of certificates of return to Senators-elect. Oshiomhole noted that Tinubu looks forward to a senate that would contribute to the country’s development. The former Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, said he would not be part of a “legislature for the powerful but for the countrymen”. He promised that the Senate would legislate in a way that ensures Nigerians get value for money. “We are…
Communities, where members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have been reported to be harassed, have been warned to desist from such. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Resident Electoral Commissioner for Osun State, Dr Mutiu Agboke, added that security agencies had been briefed, saying such harassment would be branded as hate speech. Agboke issued the warning during a monitored radio programme in Osogbo, the state capital, on Wednesday. He was responding to alleged attacks on INEC ad-hoc staff, and members of the NYSC deployed during the February 25, 2023, presidential and National Assembly elections. He said, “In Osun…
Ahead of the March 11 governorship and House of Assembly elections, the Young Progressives Party, YPP, Akwa Ibom State chapter, has urged the state Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, Cyril Omoregbe, to win back the confidence of the public after the experience of February 25 presidential elections. Addressing a press conference in Uyo on Tuesday, the YPP chairman in the state, Apostle Nyeneime Andy observed that the presidential election was marred by a lot of irregularities, thuggery, operational failures and violations of the Electoral Act and urged the REC to ensure the same cases would not be repeated at the…
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Tuesday accused the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, of trying to destroy and erase evidence of alleged rigging of last Saturday’s presidential election. PDP accused INEC of trying to destroy evidence in a bid to prevent it from obtaining proof that the BVAS machines were reconfigured. Debo Ologunagba, the spokesman of the former ruling party, said INEC’s action was to frustrate the desire of Nigerians to get redress through the court. Addressing a press conference, Ologunaba said: “We have called you to alert Nigerians and the International Community of the atrocious move by the…
Dino Melaye, a former Kogi West Senator, has described the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike-led G-5 group, as irrelevant in the just-concluded presidential election. Melaye said the Wike-led group can’t claim glory for the loss of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. Recall that Wike, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, Samuel Ortom of Benue, Seyi Makinde of Oyo and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Oyo State, all withdrew their support from PDP at a national level following the outcome of the Presidential primary in May 2022. Wike, who had vowed to support whoever emerged from the primary election, did…
The campaign team of the governorship candidate of the Labor Party in Rivers State has revealed that the former state chairman of the party, Deniye Pepple has always been working as a mole for the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Siminialayi Fubara. Obidinma Obidinma, the Director Media and Publicity Directorate Campaign Council for the LP governorship candidate in the state, Beatrice Itubo, said Pepple’s endorsement did not come as a surprise to them. Obidinma, in a statement said since the emergence of Fubara as the PDP candidate in the state, Pepple, who is his brother…
The New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, has given reasons why its presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, did not congratulate the president-elect, Bola Tinubu. NNPP said Kwankwaso didn’t congratulate Tinubu because the presidential election was flawed. A statement by NNPP’s National Publicity Secretary, Agbo Major, said reports circulating that Kwankwaso congratulated Tinubu was a figment of the fertile imagination of anti-democrats, political hirelings and fifth columnists. Major said the party rejected the outcome of the election because it did not reflect the wish and mandate of Nigerians who trooped out to vote. According to Major: “The New Nigeria Peoples Party presidential candidate,…
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday launched a new framework through his newly created ministry the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology as part of a vision to cement the UK’s place as a science and technology superpower by 2030. The British Indian leader said the new Science and Technology Framework is designed to challenge every part of government to better put the UK at the forefront of global science and technology this decade through 10 key actions, creating a coordinated cross-government approach. Downing Street said that the framework will work alongside a raft of new measures backed by…