Amidst a wave of terror attacks in Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday acknowledged the failure to avert the Peshawar carnage that killed over 100 people and called for “national unity” to tackle the menace. Addressing an apex committee meeting at the Governor House here on the mosque attack and the overall emerging terrorism situation in Pakistan, Sharif also expressed frustration at the criticism levelled against the federal government from opposition parties in the wake of a series of terror attacks. “There is a need for unity across the political spectrum. This act of terrorism managed to breach the…
Author: Ifeanyi Nwagboso
Ahead of the 25 February presidential election, a group known as Exalt Nigeria has unveiled an app to woo voters and supporters for the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Yusuf Baba-Ahmed. In a statement on Friday, the group’s initiator Dr Idu Nwapa Nwadiaro disclosed that this use of technology would enable voters to register by location and support group affiliation. The app, according to her, will boost Obi-Datti’s chances in the forthcoming election, especially at the grassroots level. “Elections are won polling unit by polling unit, and what you measure is what you have done. How…
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has urged Google and Meta, owners of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, to checkmate the spread of fake news and disinformation on their platforms ahead of the 2023 general elections. The minister made the call in Abuja on Friday during a meeting with representatives of Meta and Google, which owns YouTube and other platforms, in his office. “It is no longer news that the use of social media is now a critical factor in national elections, and no nation, including Nigeria, is immune,” he said. “With a predominantly youthful population, Nigeria ranks…
The Action Democratic Party (ADP) Presidential candidate, Mr Yabagi Sani has described joblessness and insecurity as clogs in Nigeria’s wheel of progress. The opposition party Presidential candidate made the remarks while flagging off his campaign in Owerri, Imo State. He promised to address the challenges associated with joblessness and insecurity in Nigeria. Sani, who described the Igbo people as “very enterprising”, said he chose to kickstart his campaign in Owerri because he always placed a high premium on Imo and Igbo people in general. This, he said, informed his choice of an Igbo man, Mr Okey Udo, as running mate.…
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has suspended his campaigns ahead of the 2023 elections. Makinde made the announcement on Friday. Our correspondent reports that the suspension is coming a few hours after protests rocked Ibadan over the scarcity of new naira notes and petroleum. Makinde said he suspended his campaign activities over the unending fuel and new naira-note crisis. He added that the suspension is in solidarity with the people over anti-people economy policies of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government. Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, in Oyo, Dr. Wasiu Olatubosun, in a statement made available…
China said Friday it was looking into reports that a Chinese spy satellite has been flying in US airspace and urged calm. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning also said she had no information about whether a planned trip to China by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would proceed next week as scheduled. China is a responsible country and has always strictly abided by international laws, and China has no intention to violate the territory and airspace of any sovereign countries. As for the balloon, as I’ve mentioned just now, we are looking into and verifying the situation and hope…
The Young Progressives Party, YPP has urged the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Directorate of Defence Intelligence (DDI) and the International Observers to investigate what it described as an “electoral misdemeanour” going on in Akwa Ibom State ahead of the February/March general election. Speaking to journalists at a press conference, the YPP state chairman, Nyeneime Andy alleged that agents of the Peoples Democratic Party in collusion with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC were neck deep into the purchase of Permanent Voter Cards from unsuspecting members of the public to rig the elections. He claimed that…
The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal instituted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ahiazu Mbaise Ezinihitte Federal Constituency of Imo State. The Apex Court on Friday threw out the appeal on the ground that APC has no legal right to dabble in the candidate selection process of the PDP. In a judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim, the Supreme Court held that the APC acted like a busybody and meddlesome interloper in the ways and manners it got involved in the PDP matters. A chieftain of the APC in Imo State,…
The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC, Abdullahi Adamu has called on Nigerians to vote for candidates of the party contesting at various levels at the forthcoming coming general elections to ensure rapid development and growth of Nigeria. Adamu made the call in Niger State during the APC Mega Rally while presenting the party’s flags to candidates from Zone A, which include the Gubernatorial, Senatorial and House of Representatives in Bida, Bida local government area of the state. The National Chairman who spoke through the National Vice Chairman, North Central, Muazu Bawa Senator, said the APC is a formidable…
Chairman of opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Cross River State, Venatius Ikem, has explained that they had to wrestle power from Gov Ben Ayade when he was becoming autocratic while he was a member of the party. He said the governor wanted to control all party structures in the state, attempting to install every party official and ignoring stakeholders. Ikem was a guest on Let’s Talk Nigeria, a flagship discussion programme on a local radio, Sparkling FM, on Friday morning. “We frustrated the governor out of PDP alongside a handful of his appointees. He wasn’t creative. He wasn’t democratic.…
The Supreme Court said the candidates who emerged from the primaries conducted by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led faction of the Edo Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are authentic. Justice Centus Nweze’s judgment on Wednesday brings to an end the legal battle to determine the camp in control of the state chapter. The other faction, the Legacy Group of the PDP, is led by National Vice Chairman, Dan Orbih. Delivering the judgment in the appeal filed by Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama and others against Mathew Iduoriyekemwen and others, the apex court held that the case was faulty. Justice Nweze said it did not emanate…
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari is in total support of the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, in the forthcoming election. Mohammed made this clarification on Thursday in Abuja at the 22nd edition of the PMB Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023), organised to project the achievements of the Buhari government. He said in his comment that “the President is committed to a free, fair and credible elections, and that he is doing everything possible to ensure a level-playing field for all contestants”, was misinterpreted by some sections of the media. “Yesterday,…
A Federal High Court sitting in Enugu has fixed February 15 for judgement in the suit seeking the disqualification of all the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidates in Enugu State from taking part in the 2023 elections. InfoStride News reports that the case was instituted by the Enugu North Senatorial district candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chika Idoko. In the suit No: FHC/EN/CS/217/2022, Idoko had dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the PDP, and all its candidates in Enugu State to the court. He is claiming that the PDP primary election was in contravention of Section 77…
Ahead of the 25 February presidential election, most Nigerians said they do not trust the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct free and fair elections. According to the latest survey by the Afrobarometer, a significant number of Nigerians believed that elections are the best method to choose their leaders and most agreed that the last national election in 2019 was generally free and fair, but the general findings show that popular trust in INEC is declining According to the results, a majority representing 56% of respondents, considered the last national election in 2019 free and fair, but almost four…
A lawyer for President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, asked the Justice Department in a letter to investigate close allies of former President Donald Trump and others who accessed and disseminated personal data from a laptop that a computer repair shop owner says was dropped off at his Delaware store in 2019. In a separate letter on Wednesday, Hunter Biden’s attorneys also asked Fox News host Tucker Carlson to retract and apologise for what they say are false and defamatory claims made repeatedly about him on-air, including implying without evidence that he had unauthorized access to classified documents found at his…
North Korea on Thursday threatened the toughest reaction to the United States’ expanding joint military exercises with South Korea to counter the North’s growing nuclear weapons ambitions, claiming that the allies were pushing tensions to an extreme red line. The statement by Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry came in response to comments by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who during a visit to Seoul on Tuesday said the United States would increase its deployment of advanced military assets to the Korean Peninsula, including fighter jets and aircraft carriers, as it strengthens joint training with South Korea. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the…
Former presidential candidate of the African Democratic Party, ADC, Kingsley Moghalu, has called on Nigerians to save the country from the cabals and selfish vested interests that will not let it grow. Moghalu also said Nigerians worship the gods of small things, whereas the country can do so much better. His statement was contained in a post via his verified Twitter handle on Thursday. Moghalu, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, said Nigerians have the critical task of removing the cabals that hold back the nation. He wrote, “We worship the gods of small things…
The Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi has said there is no going back in the journey to rescue Nigeria. Obi disclosed this in a post via his verified Twitter handle on Thursday. Recall that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar had claimed he was in talks with the duo of Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP. However, the Labour Party, LP, presidential Campaign Council has debunked the claim, saying its candidate is a frontrunner in the forthcoming election. Meanwhile, Obi has reaffirmed his commitment to take…
The spokesperson for the All Progressive Congress, APC, presidential Campaign Council, Femi Fani-Kayode has disclosed that some members of the ruling party may be working for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, flagbearer, Atiku Abubakar. The former minister made this known on Wednesday, during the special election programme, ‘The 2023 Verdict’ on Channels Television. He stated that “All these distractions are very disturbing because we are working hard, but some people are working day and night to create obstacles and make sure that this transition does not go smoothly. “My own view is that some may be working for the candidates…
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar has said his counterpart from the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu was trying to distance himself from the failures of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government. Atiku said Tinubu’s recent criticisms against Buhari’s government was an attempt to distance himself from the current government’s failures. The former Vice President, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, was reacting to Tinubu’s remark that “they moved the exchange rate from N200 to N800.” Speaking during his campaign rally in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Tinubu he said if the situation was arrested…