The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has decided to cancel his campaign trips and attend court proceedings with his lawyers.
Obi made the statement via his Twitter handle on Wednesday.
He said, “I am supposed to commence our whistle-stop campaign for our various Labour Party Governorship and State Assembly Candidates today.
“Initially, my trip was to take me to Nasarawa, Lagos, Enugu, Abia, Delta, Edo, Rivers, Plateau, Borno, etc.
“However, following INEC’s refusal to allow our party to inspect the materials (including BVAS) from the 25th February presidential elections, I am personally heading to the court today with our lawyers.
“As we pursue due process and defer to the rule of law, I urge all the OBIdients in the various states to continue campaigning for our candidates.”
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ICYMI: Mothers are life’s mouthpiece. They are timeless teachers in the classroom of life. Women, especially mothers, are the most influential educators.
A Lagos Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, on Tuesday sentenced a businessman, Ernest Uduebor, who is into oil and gas, to one-year imprisonment for being in possession of a forged Fidelity Bank draft to the tune of N100m.
Justice Ramon Oshodi convicted and sentenced him after he pleaded guilty to one count of being in possession of a forged document.
Uduebor was first arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on January 27, 2023, alongside Oladepo Babatunde, Funmilayo Oladimeji and Maclean Surulere.
They were arraigned on a seven-count bordering on conspiracy, forgery and possession of fraudulent documents.
EFCC’s prosecuting counsel, Mr Samuel Daji, told the court that Uduebor committed the offence on January 28, 2022.
The commission said they conspired to forge several Fidelity Bank managers’ cheques purporting the same to be issued by the bank in favour of So Deep Energy and Logistics Limited.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges preferred against them.
In view of their plea, the prosecution counsel, Daji, asked the court for a trial date.
“We also urge the court to remand the defendants at the correctional facility,” he said.
The younger brother of a slain senatorial candidate in Nigeria’s election has been elected to replace his brother on the ballot.
Kelvin Chukwu is now the candidate of the Labour Party (LP) for the Enugu East District, Enugu State, south-east Nigeria, as a replacement for his brother, Oyibo Chukwu, who was assassinated along Amaechi-Agbani Road within Enugu metropolis at about 7:20 p.m. on 22 February, barely two days to the elections on 25 February.
The election had to be shifted to 11 March because of the assassination.
It is unclear for now if the police had arrested those behind the incident.
The new candidate, Mr Chukwu, scored 223 votes in the primary election to defeat his rivals, Uchenna Ogbodo, Chinedu Nneji and Christian Onyeni.
A Nigerian lady resorted to getting married in a wheelchair after she suffered a leg dislocation from a fall.
She stated that the devil was late and returned all the glory to God that the wedding was successful despite the setback. She shared a clip and some scenes from the church wedding, saying God did it.
Five Nigerian men and a Bhutanese woman have been arrested by Gautam Buddha Nagar police for allegedly defrauding hundreds of women after befriending them on different dating apps.
The police authority which disclosed the arrest on Sunday said the accused were arrested on Saturday, adding that they created fake profiles on dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Ok Cupid, Badoo, and Hinge, and befriended women by claiming to be plastic surgeons and natives of India, a report by Express News Service said.
“They used to create a fake story of arrival in India to meet the women and being caught at the airport during Customs checking in the name of bringing foreign currency. After this, a gang member would pose as Customs officer and cheat the women by taking money as Customs duty for releasing the person,” said an official.
The police identified the accused as Okolie Stephen, 34, Okolie Prosper, 32, Okosindhi Michael, 23, Umadi Roland, 26 and Okolie Daniel – all from the Delta State of Nigeria, residing in Supertech Eco Village Golf Country of Dankaur police station.
The other accused, Kunjangmo, 36, hails from Trongsa state of Bhutan and had been operating in the city for the past three months.
The police said the accused persons came to India in 2021 on an education and medical visa for six months but stayed illegally even after their visas expired.
“The Sector-20 police station received information that a woman complained that someone cheated her through a dating app. She had a chat on the app with a person named Dr Malvik. The man had described himself as a Netherlands resident and said he was coming to meet the woman in India.
“Then he told the woman that Customs officials caught him in India and they were asking for money. The woman paid for this but then learned that she had been duped. The Sector-20 police station investigated the matter and arrested five people of Nigerian origin,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Harish Chander.
The woman member of the gang used to talk to the victims posing as a Customs officer. After receiving the money, the accused used to switch off their phones and disappear,” said Chander.
The DCP also said that the police were analysing the chats which showed that the gang had duped hundreds of women. The police said the accused befriended women from countries like Portugal, Sweden, Netherlands as well and cheated them. They said the accused had been doing this for the last eight years.
The police recovered three laptops, 17 mobile phones, one internet dongle, Rs 40,860 cash, three passports, and one scooter, and froze around Rs 1.25 lakh in the State Bank of India (SBI) account of the accused.
They registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 420 (cheating) and Information Technology Act Section 66D at the Sector-20 police station.
The Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa are currently leading a protest today (Monday) to the national headquarters of the…1
Photo of a lady was seen trending online as she wore a Salvation Ministries Glory Reign polo to an Egbesu shrine.
Popular Bayelsa Base online personality AKA Ben Naija reacting to the photo calls out former Bayelsa State government new media aid, Comr. Bodmas P. Kemepadei as he says “una member don wear GLORY REIGN shirt enter Egbesu shrine oo’ with a laugh emoji
Winnell Shaw, a resident of Lawrenceville has been celebrated by her four generations Family for her 100-year milestone on earth. She was seen in a lovely family video streamed on 11Alive news in recognition of the successful years.
Winnell’s many years have been characterized by love and good deeds according to local news conversations. She is popularly known for her service to the community by way of helping deliver babies for expecting families in Lawrenceville where she was born before moving to Atlanta.
The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC as wwii as the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu are stepping up preparations for the March 11 Governorship and House of Assembly poll in Lagos.
Recall that the APC and Tinubu recorded great upset in that February 25th Presidential election, where the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party,LP, Peter Obi defeated Tinubu in Lagos.
Obi won in nine of the 20 local governments and polled 582,130 votes to beat Tinubu, who won 11 LGAs with 571, 575 votes.
Obviously unsettled by this development, the topmost echelon of the ruling APC have gone back to the drawing board to woo voters in a bid to avert reoccurring voter apathy in the Saturday poll.
I, Bishop Ken Esekhaigbe having a great time with Pastor Yemi Davids and Pastor Poju Oyemade, men I celebrate with all my heart. I sincerely cherish my relationship with these gospel icons and leaders at various capacities. Thank you for being a blessing to me and many others.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Sunday, has said it is not the intention of God for Nigeria to be a poor country, saying the situation of the country should be blamed on its political leadership.
He said it was lamentable that Nigeria had not taken advantage of science and technology to attain self-sufficiency in food production.
The former president stated this at a lecture organised to mark his 86th birthday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
He said, “God has created Nigeria for a great purpose. At independence, the world did not refer to Nigeria as giant in Africa, no, they refered to Nigeria as giant in the sun; Nigeria was more than giant in Africa, it was giant in the sun. But not only have we not been giant in the sun, we have not even been giant in Africa. Some people called us giant with clay feet.
“That is not what God has created Nigeria to be; that is what we Nigerians have inadvertently or advertently made Nigeria to be. But will Nigeria continue to be so, I believe no. So, we must continue to hold ourselves together, pray and understand all the factors and the elements that are making us not to be the giant, but the dwarf of Africa and how we can get out of it and I believe and pray that we will get out of it.”
On food security, the ex-president said, “Until Ukraine war, I really did not realise how much we in Africa, almost all of us in Africa depend on the Russians and the Ukrainians for wheat. Wheat, which is used to make bread, is only carbohydrate. Are there no carbohydrate foodstuffs that can be produced in Africa that we can be self-sufficient in? I know some of our countries cannot produce wheat and this is the sort of thing that IITA has been doing.
“Science and technology has given us all that we need for food and nutrition security in Africa what is left is political will and political action.”
Earlier in his lecture, titled “The Complex Dynamics in Achieving Food and Nutrition Security in Africa,” a former Director-General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Dr Nteranya Sanginga, lamented that African countries, despite being blessed with fertile land, still spend billions of dollars importing food.
Sanginga said by spending N11bn annually to import food, Nigeria was improving other countries’ Internally Generated Revenue to its own detriment.
He said for Africa to ensure food security, governments must show more political will and determination.
The Lagos State Government on Sunday declared that the Chrisland International School will remain shut as investigation into the death of a pupil of the school, Whitney Adeniran, was still ongoing.
The Federal Government has urged former President Olusegun Obasanjo not to truncate the 2023 general elections with his allegedly inciting, self-serving and provocative letter on the polls.
In a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said what the former President “cunningly” framed as an “appeal for caution and rectification” was nothing but a calculated attempt to undermine the electoral process and a wilful incitement to violence.
“Though masquerading as an unbiased and concerned elder statesman, former President Obasanjo is a known partisan bent on thwarting, by subterfuge, the choice of millions of Nigerian voters,” the Minister said.
Mohammed expressed shock and disbelief that a former President could purportedly throw around unverified claims and amplify “wild allegations” picked up from the streets against the electoral process.
The Minister accused the former President of, in his time, organising “perhaps the worst elections” since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, adding that he is the “least qualified” to advise a President whose determined effort to leave a legacy of free, fair, credible and transparent election is “well acknowledged” within and outside Nigeria.
“As the whole nation waits with bated breath for the result of last Saturday’s national elections, amid unnecessary tension created by professional complainants and political jesters, what is expected from a self-respecting elder statesman are words and actions that douse tension and serve as a soothing balm.
“Instead, former President Obasanjo used his unsolicited letter to insinuate, or perhaps wish for, an inconclusive election and a descent into anarchy; used his time to cast aspersion on electoral officials who are unable to defend themselves, while surreptitiously seeking to dress his personal choice in the garb of the people’s choice. This is duplicitous,” he stated.
The Minister reiterated to the former President that organising elections in Nigeria is no mean feat, considering that the voter population of 93,469,008 in the country is 16,742,916 more than the total number of registered voters in 14 West African nations put together at 76,726,092.
“With a deployment of over 1,265,227 electoral officials, the infusion of technology to enhance the electoral process, and the logistical nightmare of sending election materials across our vast country, INEC seems to be availing itself creditably, going by the preliminary reports of the ECOWAS Electoral Observation Mission and the Commonwealth Observer Group, among other groups that observed the election.
“Therefore, those arrogating to themselves the power to cancel an election and unilaterally fix a date for a new one, ostensibly to ameliorate perceived electoral infractions, should please exercise restraint and allow the official electoral body to conclude its duty by announcing the results of the 2023 national elections.
“After that, anyone who is aggrieved must follow the stipulated legal process put in place to adjudicate electoral disputes, instead of threatening fire and conjuring apocalypse,” he added.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has called into question the credibility of last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections, accusing security personnel, electoral staff, and state governors of undermining the process.
“I’ve not been impressed by the very disappointing outing on the part of the Independent National Electoral Commission,” Falana said during an exclusive interview with Channels Television.
“Nigerians’ had been assured they were going to have a credible election – a peaceful election – whereby votes would count. Regrettably, there was a free rein of thuggery; thugs took over in many places.
“There was a compromise on the part of the security forces. There was a compromise on the part of some INEC chiefs. There was impunity on the part of some governors.”
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) expressed hope that the authorities would draw sufficient lessons from the exercise.
“As our courts would say, they are the substantial compliance with the Electoral Act because you could isolate where you had pockets of illegality, pockets of violence,” he said.
In his view, INEC should go back to the drawing board, review the management of the elections, and the role of ad hoc staff.
The Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has emerged winner of Saturday’s presidential election in Kebbi with 285,175 votes.
The State Collation Officer, Prof. Usman Saidu, while presenting the result in Birnin Kebbi said the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, polled 248,088 votes.
Saidu said the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, also scored 10,682 votes while the New Nigeria Peoples Party, scored 5,038 votes.
He gave the state total registered voters as 1,983,985, number of accredited voters as 599,201; total votes cast- 591,475; total valid votes-559,522 while 31,953 votes were rejected.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the declaration of the result, the Director-General, PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Kebbi State and party agent, Alhaji Bala Dole, welcomed the results.
He claimed that if not for some ”little hitches” his party would have gotten more votes.
Also, the All Progressives Congress agent, Alhaji Ja’afar Ahmed, said there were issues with the result, insisting that the exercise was characterised by violence, late arrival of election materials, malfunctioning of BIVAS as well as inducement in different forms.
Responding, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the State, Alhaji Ahmed Bello-Mahmud, expressed appreciation that the elections were conducted peacefully, fairly, credibly and conclusively collated devoid of any rancour.
He appealed to the electorate to maintain the tempo in the forthcoming elections for the good of all.
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has been declared the winner of Saturday’s presidential election in Benue State.
Tinubu polled 310,468 to outpace Peter Obi of the Labour Party who scored 308,372 votes.
Also, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party polled 130,081 votes to come a distant third, while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party scored 4,740.
The total number of registered voters was 2,772,977 and the accredited voters were put at 840,189.
The number of valid votes reached 770,075, while the rejected votes amounted to 27,687, with a total of 797,762 votes cast.
The Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council has condemned alleged politically motivated attacks on some citizens in parts of Lagos State.
The party claimed those attacked were believed to have voted for the LP.
According to the Obi-Datti PCC, the attacks have been meted out to indigenes and non-indigenes alike.
In a statement signed on Monday by the council’s Deputy Director General, Oseloka Obaze, the team decried the attack which it described as “most regrettable”.
The statement read, “It is most regrettable that political thugs would single out citizens who exercised their constitutional rights to vote for candidates or parties of their choice.
“In keeping with its core value of political decorum, Labour Party thanks its supporters and indeed all Nigerians living in Lagos who have exercised their fundamental rights to vote according to the dictates of their conscience.
“Labour Party is aware of some egregious irregularities in the elections in several states. The party will follow due process and must use constitutional means to address our grievances thus giving peace a chance. It will, however, remain resolute in its mission to change Nigeria, which is after all greater than all of us. We have to protect the peace while defending every vote.
“Governments at all levels must recommit to the constitutional responsibility to protect citizens within their territories regardless of their political leanings.”
The National Broadcasting Commission has warned broadcasters covering the general elections to desist from using or allowing their platforms and facilities to be used for the broadcast of content that may lead to the breakdown of law and order in Nigeria.
The Director-General of NBC, Balarabe Ilelah, gave the warning in a statement titled, “Warning to broadcast stations”, obtained by journalists in Abuja on Monday night.
While reminding all broadcast stations that they have a duty to promote sustainable democracy in Nigeria, the commission also warned that appropriate sanctions would be meted out to any erring station that operates outside the confines of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.
The statement reads, “The National Broadcasting Commission reminds all broadcasters covering and reporting the 2023 general elections to endeavor to abide by the provisions of the Extant Electoral Law (s), the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, and other relevant regulations guiding the broadcast of elections in Nigeria.
“The commission also said it had observed that some guests on broadcast stations are making volatile allusions capable of causing unrest in the country.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the code admonished broadcasters in the following Sections:
5.3.3(k) not use any vote obtained at a polling station or from an exit poll to project or speculate on the chances of a candidate; 5.3.3(l) relay election results or declaration of the winner only as announced by the authorized electoral officer for the election; The NBC Act CAP N11, Laws of the Federation, 2004, also prescribes, in the third Schedule 12(6) that, “A licensee shall be responsible for the content of the Station’s Broadcast.”
“The commission, while reminding all broadcast stations by this release that they have a duty to promote sustainable democracy in Nigeria, also warns that appropriate sanctions would be meted out to any erring station that operates outside the confines of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.
“The commission enjoins all broadcasters to desist from using or allowing their platforms and facilities to be used for the broadcast of contents that may lead to the breakdown of law and order.
“Therefore, broadcasters shall perform the role of peace agents by adhering to the principles of responsibility, accuracy and neutrality.”
The Labour Party presidential standard bearer, Peter Obi, on Monday, caused a political earthquake in Lagos, defeating the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Saturday’s presidential election.
The Labour Party presidential standard bearer, Peter Obi, on Monday, caused a political earthquake in Lagos, defeating the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Saturday’s presidential election.
Tinubu, who is a former Lagos State governor, suffered what amounted to his very first political loss since 1999 when he has been dominating the politics of the state.
The APC presidential candidate had survived various attacks on his political stranglehold on the state over the years but the results of the election announced on Monday put the ex-governor on the back foot, causing shock waves across the country.
The state Collation Officer and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Prof Adenike Oladiji, announced the final result for Lagos State after collating the results from 20 local government areas.
According to the results announced at the INEC collation centre in Yaba, Obi polled a total of 575,735 votes while Tinubu garnered 573,001 votes.
Obi won nine local government areas of the state.
The LGAs are Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Amuwo-Odofin, Eti-Osa, Ikeja, Kosofe, Oshodi-Isolo, Somolu, Ojo and Alimosho
Tinubu triumphed in Agege, Apapa, Badagry, Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikorodu, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, and Surulere.
The PDP secured 75,750 votes while the NNPP had a total of 8,844 votes.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner for INEC Lagos, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, assured journalists and international observers present that the results were not tampered with by the commission.
Meanwhile, the ruling APC has welcomed the victory of Obi in Lagos, describing it as democracy at work.
In an interview with our correspondent the Director of Publicity of the party, Bala Ibrahim said, the defeat of Tinubu reflected the beauty of democracy.
On his part, spokesman for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo said the party knew what led to its defeat, adding however that its candidate had accepted the outcome in good faith.
On his part, the APC presidential candidate, Tinubu, appealed to the people of Lagos State to be calm and eschew any act that can lead to a breakdown of law and order.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has won the presidential election in Bayelsa State with a total of 68, 818 votes.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has won the presidential election in Bayelsa State with a total of 68, 818 votes.
While the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, polled a total of 42, 572 votes to clinch the third position.
The State Returning Officer and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, Prof. Lilian Salami, announced the summary of the results at the end of the collation of the results for the eight local government areas of the state at the Prof. Mahmood Yakubu Media Centre, Yenagoa INEC office, on Monday night.
BAYELSA REELS 