NIGERIAN NOTCH

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it is determined not to postpone the 2023 general election at the eleventh hour on account of logistics. INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who disclosed this at the inauguration of the Electoral Logistics Committee (ELOC) in Abuja at the weekend said the commission was mobilising every national asset including the armed forces and the police and starting the engagement early. The nation’s electoral body also noted that some of the critical materials for the election had started arriving. Yakubu said the establishment of the committee was borne out of the commission’s effort to ensure the speedy and safe delivery of huge quantities of sensitive and non-sensitive materials for the 2023 general elections. He said the logistics for the clearance, handling, custody, delivery, and distribution of enormous quantities of election materials is the biggest operation Nigeria undertakes every four years. For effective coordination, h

The member representing Aniocha/Oshimili federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon Ndudi Elumelu, has called on the federal government to dredge rivers Niger and Benue and its tributaries as long-term solution to perennial flooding in the country. He stated this at the weekend when he visited flood victims in the six internally displaced persons (IDP) camps located within the federal constituency, urging the victims to see their present situation as a temporary setback Elumelu, who is also the minority leader of the House, prayed and glorified God with the victims and made a donation of N21 million for their upkeep, revealing that arrangements had been concluded for the provision of relief materials for the flood victims to enable them go back to their various communities when the flood would have receded. “I felt that as a servant of the people, I should come and feel the pains inflicted on them by the ravaging flood, which not only displaced them from their ancestral

Apparently wary of the growing popularity of the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, ahead of the 2023 general election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the former Anambra State governor of splitting the opposition in the country. It alleged that all those campaigning for Obi are working for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu Tinubu. Spokesman of the PDP presidential campaign council, Dino Melaye, called on Obi to “come back home” to support Atiku in order to stop the continuation of APC in government. In a statement he issued yesterday in Abuja, Melaye noted that Obi does not have the capacity to unite the country. He also called on the chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Mohammed Buba Marwa to subject all the presidential candidates to a drug test. Melaye, who admitted that Obi is depleting Atiku’s votes, claimed that Obi would not win the presidential election because the Labour Party does not

The United Kingdom yesterday issued a warning to its citizens that terrorists were planning to attack the United States. The UK in a travel advisory said the terrorists are “very likely to try to carry out attacks in the USA. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners, crowded areas, and transportation networks. You should monitor media reports and be vigilant at all times.” The US and the UK had warned of possible terrorist attacks in Nigeria. The UK government in an updated advisory said on its website that “The main threat comes from individuals who may have been inspired by terrorist ideology to carry out so-called ‘lone actor’ attacks targeting public events or places. Attacks could take place with little or no notice.” Sequel to this alert, the UK government said the US might deploy security agents in public places forestall possible attack. “The US Department of Homeland Security provides public information about credible threats. Expect an increa

Barely one week after United States Billionaire Elon Musk formally took over Twitter after an acquisition worth $44 billion, the former CEO of microblogging website, Jack Dorsey, has launched a new social media platform, “Bluesky”. Dorsey’s Bluesky has garnered over 30,000 users in just two days after the announcement of the new app. Reports say that Bluesky gives creators independence from platforms and developers and the freedom to design, allowing users to choose their experience as it gives users control of their algorithms. Elon acquired Twitter in April and completed the process of ownership on October 27 after which he reportedly fired some top executives of the company to herald a new dimension in the company.

~ As NASS standing committees shun appropriation c’ttee The December deadline given by the National Assembly to pass the 2023 Budget is under threat as all standing committees that are supposed to submit their reports to the Appropriation Committee failed to appear before it yesterday. The appropriation committee has only two weeks remaining to revert to the Senate for further action but all the committees which were supposed to submit their reports on Friday failed to show up. The committees that failed to appear before the appropriation committee headed by Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North) are: Upstream, Downstream, Gas, Cooperation and Integration and Capital Markets. Even though the Senate is working hard to maintain the January – December budget cycle, the Senate Committee on appropriations had no option than to adjourn its maiden meeting from yesterday to Monday due to non-appearance of subcommittees to hand in their reports. Chairman of the committee, Senator Barau Jibrin, said the

~ As Buhari commits to welfare, well-being of all Nigerians | Bayelsa govt faults minister. As the ravaging floods finally recede across the country after weeks of havoc, the natural disaster has recorded about 40 percent increase in the figure of internally displaced persons (IDPs), bringing the number of IDPs to about 5 million from 3.4 million as contained in 2021 Displacement Tracking Matrix carried out by (UNHCR) Matrix Index as well as the International Organization of Migration (IOM). Federal commissioner of National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Imaan Ibrahim, who disclosed the increasing effect of climate change and particularly the debilitating effect of floods across the country, has led to significant loss of many lives, properties and livelihood. She spoke at an event marking the National Day for Displaced Persons (IDPs) with the theme: “Journey so far, future of durable solutions,” at the presidential villa, Abuja. Speaking on

Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, has paid glowing tributes to the iconic Igbo leader and founding father of APGA, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who would have been 89 today, November 4, 2022. Ojukwu, popularly known as Ikemba Nnewi, was born on November 4, 1933 and died on November 26, 2011, at the age of 78 In a fitting tribute to mark the posthumous birthday of the late leader, Governor Soludo described him as an officer gentleman, an accomplished statesman and a leader with uncommon vision.  The Governor enthused that Chief Odumegwu-Ojukwu was one leader who never wavered nor prevaricated in his quest for a just and equitable society for all, irrespective of religion or region of birth. Professor Soludo stated: “Yours was a life of transparency in service and dedication to the ideals of justice and fairness to all. “Your recommendations for an egalitarian society where no one was given a second-class treatment, remain instructive to us as a nation a

The Police in Lagos State have declared one Uzochukwu Obumneme Arinze wanted over his alleged involvement in homosexual activities. Uzochukwu, who hails from Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State, is said to have been reported to the police by neighbors in his Amuwo Odofin Main Land residence in Lagos State. It was gathered that the suspect, who sources said has been engaging in homosexual practices was reportedly caught in the act, while having the illicit affair with a fellow man in a birthday party, on 10th October, 2021. The source hinted that “we have been monitoring his activities for quite some time. His neighbours always reported that male friends always visited Uzochukwu.  Among the friends that frequently visited was one Okey, who is now in police custody.    "Uzochukwu and two other gay partners whose names are not mentioned, managed to escape; while Okey and one other who claimed to be a photographer, were arrested on 10th October, 2021. Meanwhile, the pol

The embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has dragged the Federal Government to the Supreme Court over his continued detention. Kanu, in a three-ground of appeal he filed through his team of lawyers led by a frontline constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, is challenging the ruling of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which had on October 28, stopped the execution of its judgment that quashed the terrorism charge the  FG preferred against him. He maintained that the appellate court erred in law when it proceeded to hear and determine an application for a stay of execution of judgment in a criminal appeal, brought under Order 6, Rule I, of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2021, and Section 17 of the Court of Appeal Act of 2004, and thereby occasioned a miscarriage of justice. According to the IPOB leader, both the Court of Appeal Rules 2021 and the Court of Appeal Act, 2004, did not make any provisions for a stay of execution of a Court of Appeal

In what appeared to be a reprisal probably to make up of for the loss of five governors, popularly known as the G-5, the presidential candidate of opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, is currently in talks with five governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Disclosing the development to newsmen yesterday, the Atiku/Okowa presidential campaign organisation said the APC governors who are friends with Atiku have been consulting with the former vice president on how to support him. According to the PDP campaign team, the five APC governors are willing to jump ship because they believe Atiku has a more believable manifesto and better experience to manage Nigeria. One of the spokesmen of the PDP campaign team and former national publicity secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, who gave the hint, told our correspondent that the move is ongoing just as the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, believes he can attempt to leverage on the situation withi