Election
Ogun council polls: Governor Abiodun urges OGSIEC to conduct credible election
Ogun State governor Prince Dapo Abiodun has urged members of the newly inaugurated Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) to be transparent in their dealings with all political parties. The governor said this Friday while swearing-in the newly constituted 6-man electoral commission at the Executive Council Chambers of Governor’s Office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the state capital. Abiodun specifically charged new OGSIEC members to make fairness, firmness, dedication and objectivity their watchword as the state prepares for the local government poll to be conducted later this year. The governor said the inauguration was a demonstration of his administration’s commitment towards ensuring that democratic dividends get to the grassroots through electoral processes at the local gover...
Kwara government inaugurates transition committees for 16 councils
The Kwara Government has inaugurated Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) chairmen of the 16 Local Government Areas of the state, charging them to be prudent, transparent, accountable and fair to all. The Deputy Governor of the state, Mr Kayode Alabi, inaugurated the committee chairmen on Thursday in Ilorin. Alabi explained that the TICs have been appointed by Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to hold forth pending election into the local councils within shortest possible time. He enjoined the appointees to justify the confidence reposed in them by working assiduously to engender sustainable development at the grassroots. “These appointment thrust upon you the responsibility to galvanise our Local Government Areas for sustainable development in the grassroots. ” This administration is conce...
2023: PDP panel throws presidential tickets open
File Photo Amidst thinking from many stakeholders that North-East and South-East geo-political zones that have had the shortest stints at the Presidency, should be given special consideration, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) panel has thrown open the 2023 presidential ticket. The governor of Bauchi state and Chairman, PDP 2019 election review committee, Bala Mohammed, gave this recommendation on Wednesday while submitting the report of the committee to the party leadership. The Governor said: “In line with certain unwritten conventions of the nation’s history, many people think that, for fairness and equity, the North East and South East geo-political zones that have had the shortest stints at the Presidency, should be given special consideration, in choosing the presidential flagbearer...
Russia calls U.S. allegations over Putin-directed election meddling ‘baseless’
Russia on Wednesday described U.S. intelligence allegations that President Vladimir Putin had likely directed efforts to try to swing the 2020 U.S. presidential election to Donald Trump as baseless. A 15-page American intelligence report, released on Tuesday, added heft to longstanding allegations that some of Trump’s top lieutenants were playing into Moscow’s hands by amplifying claims made against then-candidate Joe Biden by Russian-linked Ukrainian figures in the run-up to the Nov. 3 election. “The document prepared by the U.S. intelligence community is another set of baseless accusations against our country for interfering in American domestic political processes,” Russia’s embassy in the United States said in a statement on Facebook. “The conclusions of the report on Russia conducting...
Brazil federal prosecutor appeals decision to annul Lula da Silva’s convictions
The office of Brazil’s prosecutor general on Friday appealed a Supreme Court judge’s ruling earlier this week that annulled the criminal convictions of former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. If successful, the appeal could close the door on the popular politician running in next year’s presidential election, which had become a reality after Monday’s surprise decision by Justice Edson Fachin. Two opinion polls published on Friday, the first since Lula’s convictions were annulled, showed that President Jair Bolsonaro is still favored to win the 2022 election but his advantage has shrunk, and one said 61% do not approve of his handling of the pandemic that has taken 270,000 lives. The survey for Exame business news magazine by pollster Ideia found that Bolsonaro would win a run-o...
Sports minister hails NFF president on FIFA election
Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has congratulated NFF president, Amaju Pinnick, on his election into the FIFA council. Dare said this in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media), John Joshua-Akanji, on Friday in Abuja. Pinnick was elected into the FIFA council on Friday at the CAF 43rd general meeting in Rabat, Morocco, winning by 43 votes to his opponent’s eight votes. Dare described the victory as an opportunity for Nigeria and indeed Africa to contribute to the administration of world football. The minister charged Pinnick to use his position to reposition Nigerian and African football. “This is an opportunity to use your new position to make Nigerian, African and World football great again and make it better than you met it. “This is the reward of hard work and...
AAC disowns Omoyele Sowore as its chair
The leadership of the African Action Congress (AAC) on Wednesday said that the party’s presidential candidate in the 2019 election, Omoyele Sowore has been expelled by the party’s highest decision making organ and he is therefore presently unknown to the party. The party also in a petition to the Inspector General of Police claimed that the convener of the Revolution Now’s utterances and behavior have become a security risk and should be investigated by the security agencies before he plugs the country into crisis. Addressing journalists in Abuja, the National Chairman of AAC, Dr. Leonard Nzenwa said the letter by Sowore to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, claiming to be the Chairman of the party amounted to impersonation. Dr. Nzenwa, who is also the National Chairman o...
Senator Okorocha meets VP Osinbajo over feud with Governor Uzodinma
Rochas Foundation The former Governor of Imo State and Senator representing Imo West Senatorial District, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, Wednesday took the feud between him and Governor Hope Uzodinma to the Presidency. Senator Okorocha after meeting behind closed doors with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo told State House correspondents that he would not want an escalation of the conflict arising from the government’s sealing of some of his property in Owerri, the Imo State capital, insisting that he wants peace to reign in the state. The proponent of ‘Iberiberism’ doctrine also said that becoming governor was a sacrifice for him. According to him, “The whole thing to me sounds like a movie, a joke, a dream that does not reflect any practical reality, but I am a father, I’m a leader of that state an...
Ivory Coast names interim prime minister
Patrick Achi, secretary general to the presidency of the Ivory Coast, was appointed Monday interim prime minister while the country’s premier, Hamed Bakayoko, is in Europe receiving medical treatment, the president’s office said. “State minister Patrick Achi will take over the functions of prime minister and head of government in an interim capacity,” the presidency said in a statement. Tene Birahima Ouattara, presidential affairs minister and the younger brother of President Alassane Ouattara, was appointed interim defence minister, also replacing Bakayoko in that position. Bakayoko, 56, travelled to France on February 18 for health reasons and has just been transferred to a hospital in Germany, a source close to the presidency told AFP, without specifying exactly when. The nature of Baka...
Thai prosecutor indicts 18 over anti-government protests
A Thai prosecutor on Monday indicted 18 activists for their roles in anti-government rallies last year by a protest movement that has brought unprecedented challenges to the royal palace and military-dominated establishment. The youth-led movement sprang up last year calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former junta leader, and reform of the powerful Thai monarchy, breaking a longstanding taboo under the country’s lese majeste law. Those indicted included three prominent leaders charged with sedition and lese majeste during rallies in September, where tens of thousands escalated calls for monarchy reforms. The other 15 protesters face trial for sedition and breaching a ban on public assembly. “There is sufficient evidence that the accused have committed wrongd...
Protest as PDP sweeps Delta council polls
File Photo Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) on Sunday in Asaba returned all the 25 chairmanship candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as winners in Saturday’s local government elections. The PDP chairmanship candidates won the election in their respective local government areas, with landslide, according to the various returning officers. Declaring the announcement of results open, chairman of DSIEC, Mike Ogbodu said the election was conducted in observance of COVID-19 protocols, adding that the exercise was generally peaceful. Although, the All Progressive Congress (APC) which is the main opposition party, pulled out midway into the polls, the returning officers insisted that the elections were contested. Publicity secretary of the APC in the state, Sylvest...
Rivers governor: Good infrastructure reward for people’s resistance when army ‘tried to rig’ election
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has said the construction of eight flyover bridges in Port Harcourt alongside other critical infrastructure is in a mark of appreciation to the people of Rivers whom he commended for, in his words, having resisted ‘the Army and other security agencies [when they] tried to rig [the 2019] election’ in the state. Governor Wike stated this at the flag-off of the 802 metres long Orochiri-Wurukwo flyover bridge, made up of a deck span of 315m, north and south side ramps of 238 metres and 249 metres respectively, in Port Harcourt yesterday. ‘Why we are doing this is because you too played a role in bringing us to government. We also have to pay you back,’ the governor stated. ‘Remember during the last election how the Army and other security agencies tried to rig...
