ONE WORD

  Anybody can protest in front of Whitehouse, we are unperturbed”- APC-USA knocks planned protest at White House The United States chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Thursday condemned the proposed political demonstration that would be held by some Nigerians in front of the White House on Monday. The condemnation is coming a day after authorities in the United States granted permission to supporters of Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to use its park on April 3 to protest the outcome of the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria. In a statement issued on Thursday, the Chairman of the United States chapter of the APC, Prof. Tai Balofin, disclosed that many Nigerians in Diaspora were unperturbed by the proposed protest because they knew the presidential poll was free and fair. He said, “We wish to inform the public that a group of the Nigerian 2023 Presidential election losers are currently protesting at the park in front of the White House. It is important to ...

Some key political players are plotting to foist an Interim Government in Nigeria, according to The Department of State Services (DSS). President-Elect Bola Tinubu is due for inauguration on May 29, but in a statement on Wednesday, Dr. Peter Afunanya, DSS spokesman, stated that some persons have weighed various options, which include, among others, to sponsor endless violent mass protests in major cities to warrant a declaration of State of Emergency. The Service said that another plot to foist interim government is to obtain frivolous court injunctions to forestall the inauguration of new executive administrations and legislative houses at the Federal and State levels. “The Service considers the plot, being pursued by these entrenched interests, as not only an aberration but a mischievous way to set aside the constitution and undermine civil rule as well as plunge the country into an avoidable crisis.” “The illegality is totally unacceptable in a democracy and to the peace loving Nige...

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige has assured the threat of protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over naira scarcity has been arrested. The NLC gave the Federal Government a seven-day ultimatum to cause the CBN and the commercial banks to end the cash scarcity, failure of which it warned of a nationwide protest and the picketing of the apex bank’s branches. But appearing on the weekly Ministerial Briefing organised by the Presidential Communication Team at the State House, Abuja, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Ngige said dialogues, coordinated by his ministry, took place making the CBN take steps to remedy the situation. The Minister, who was accompanied by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, and other senior officials of the Ministry, said as at the moment, the issue to be discussed by NLC in its National Executive Council meeting would no longer be issues of...

  The Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Igyorov Ward of Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State has suspended the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, with immediate effect. They suspended Ayu for anti-party activities after passing a vote of no confidence on him. While reading a resolution, the secretary of the party in Igyorov ward, Banger Dooyum, said Ayu’s anti-party activities – alongside his allies – contributed to PDP’s loss in his ward and local government in the governorship election. Ayu is also accused of not paying his annual dues as enshrined by the party’s constitution. Twelve out of the seventeen exco members signed the documents endorsing his suspension. They also alleged that the PDP chieftain did not vote during the governorship and state assembly elections held on the 18th of March, 2023. According to them, most of Ayu’s closest allies worked for the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) which resulted in the abysmal per...

    Governor Babajide-Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has ordered the payment of N5 million compensation to an Uber driver, Adedotun Clement, who was assaulted on October 20, 2021, during a rally to mark the one-year anniversary of  #EndSARS  protest in the state. The governor in a statement on Saturday said he had “directed the Honorable Attorney General to set up a meeting and pay him the compensation awarded by the court.” @jidesanwoolu  Good evening Lagos, As Governor, I'm committed to upholding the rule of law and protecting citizens' rights with empathy and authority. I became aware of the case involving Mr. Clement Adedotun and the judgement by the Federal High Court, and I understand the impact this legal battle has had on him. After reviewing Mr. Clement's case, I've directed the Honorable Attorney General to set up a meeting and pay him the compensation awarded by the Court. Although the State Government has appealed the ruling, I've interceded in this instan...

  Court Of Appeal Rules On PDP’s Suit Against Tinubu, Shettima’s Candidacy, Awards N5million Against Appellant’s Lawyer In a unanimous decision on Friday, a three-member panel led by Justice James Abundaga held that the PDP had failed to establish locus standi to bring the case and hence, held that the appellant did not have the right to commence the action in law. The Court of Appeal in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has dismissed an appeal suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking the disqualification of Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and his deputy, Kashim Shettima, in the February 25 election. In a unanimous decision on Friday, a three-member panel led by Justice James Abundaga held that the PDP had failed to establish locus standi to bring the case and hence, held that the appellant did not have the right to commence the action in law. According to reports, the PDP asked the appellate court to overturn the ...

T HE PRESIDENT NEVER SAID HE WON’T HAND OVER TO PRESIDENT ELECT TINUBU - PRESIDENCY The Presidency wishes to denounce as outrageous and fake, and condemns the fake news brigade for attributing a false quote to President Muhammadu Buhari and circulating it. How can you vigorously campaign for somebody, vote for him and then say you won’t hand over to him? This beggars belief. The situation of the Sahara Reporters is pretty pathetic since their ownership is politically partisan in today’s politics, in fact a loser in the presidential election. Instead of talking about issues, they repeatedly sell lies in the hope that people believe them as truth. The government is already in transition phase. The Transition Committee, made up of representatives of the outgoing administration and the incoming one is meeting on an almost daily basis planning the handover to the Tinubu/Shettima administration.  Thirteen committees as offshoots of the main committee, some, to arrange military drills and...

The British high commission on Wednesday announced that its collating relevant information about some Nigerians who engaged in anti-democratic actions during the elections with a view to taking action against the individuals. The commission also stated that it was concerned by the use of inflammatory ethno-religious language by some political figures, and called on all leaders to distance themselves from the use of such inflammatory language, as well as prevent those who speak on their behalf from doing so. This is coming as Bayo Onanuga, Media Aide to President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, came under heavy criticism after posting a viral tweet warning Igbos never to interfere in Lagos politics

  CBN pushes more banknotes to commercial banks, orders them to operate Saturdays, Sundays CBN pushes more banknotes to commercial banks others them to operate Saturdays Sundays The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed the evacuation of banknotes from its vaults to commercial banks across the country as part of a coordinated effort to ease the circulation of banknotes of various denominations. The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, disclosed this in Abuja on Friday, stating that a substantial amount of money, in various denominations, had been received by the commercial banks for onward circulation to their respective customers. According to him, the CBN had directed all banks to load their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls through the weekends. “Branches of commercial banks will operate on Saturdays and Sundays to attend to customers’ cash needs,” he noted, adding th...

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has revealed that the aggrieved governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not agree to support the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, in the just-concluded presidential election. Wike made this known on Wednesday during a live media chat in Port Harcourt, the state capital. The Rivers governor stated that the G-5 governors only reached an agreement and formulated strategies to ensure the emergence of a Southern President. Wike stated that the aim of PDP governors was equity, fairness, and justice, saying that they are happy that a Southern president has emerged. He said: “There was never a time the integrity Group met and say it must be this person. We only agreed on the Southern President. We formulated strategies and the southern President emerged. Our interest is that a southern President should emerge. “When we went to our meeting, we decided on the Southern President. We didn’t say it must be this. We said whatever you are...

  Court Dismisses Labour Party’s Suit, Rules That “Only INEC Can Determine Mode Of Collating, Transmitting Election Results” A Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled that it is only the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that is empowered by law to determine the mode of collating and transmitting election results. Justice Emeka Nwite, in a judgment, also held that it is only INEC that has the prerogative to direct how Polling Unit Presiding Officer should transfer election results, including the total number of accredited voters and results of the ballot. Before dismissing the suit, Justice Nwite held that the collating and transferring election results manually in the 2023 general elections is in line with the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022. The judgment was on a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1454/2022 filed by the Labour Party (LP), with INEC as the only defendant. LP had prayed the court to declare that INEC has no power to choose manual method other than ...

The traditional ruler of the Ikate-Elegushi Kingdom, Saheed Ademola (Kusenla III), has declared a three-day Oro rite on non-indigenes and women from midnight to 5:30 a.m., including on Saturday’s governorship and state assembly election day.In a memo issued to the residents of Ikate-Elegushi, the monarch announced that there would be a restriction of movement to perform the Oro rite in the community from Wednesday to Saturday.Residents of the community alleged there is a political motive for the curfew which will further disenfranchise women and non-indigenes from voting on election day. Others complained that it would paralysed commercial activities in the community. Temitope Oyefeso, the special assistant on media affairs to the Ikate Kingdom’s monarch, confirmed that an Oro rite is happening in the Ikate-Elegushi Kingdom.  

  Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, has put together a legal team of 19 Senior Advocates of Nigeria to challenge the outcome of the February 25 election. Atiku briefed them on Wednesday at his campaign Headquarters in Abuja, asking them to “establish the claim of illegality in the election and reclaim the mandate of the Nigerian people.” The team is headed by a seasoned litigation and commercial lawyer, JK Gadzama. He further declared that it is crucial for them to go through this process not just for himself and PDP, but also to reinforce constitutional democracy and safeguard it for future generations. The list of SANs includes Chief Chris Uche, Paul Usoro, Tayo Jegede, Ken Mozia, Chief Mike Ozekhome, Mahmood Magaji, Joe Abraham, Chukwuma Umeh, Garba Tetengi and Chief Emeka Etiaba – as well as Chief Goddy Uche, Professor Maxwell Gidado; PDP’s National Legal Adviser A.K. Ajibade; O.M. Atoyebi; Nella Rabana; Paul Ogbole; Nuremi Jimoh and Ab...

  A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George, has alleged that a plot is afoot to “eliminate” the candidate of Labour Party (LP) in Lagos, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, ahead of the March 11 governorship election in the state. George said this at a press conference in Lagos on Monday. He said that if anything happens to Rhodes-Vivour, Nigerians should know who to hold responsible. “We wish to inform Nigerians about the heinous plan, to secretly eliminate the Labour Party governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the latest move by the take Lagos occupiers, to take him out of circulation before the election on Saturday. “We, hereby, warn that, should anything happen to this vibrant bonafide.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State has debunked reports on social media that its governorship candidate, Abdul-Azeez Adediran (Jandor) was in talks with his counterpart in the Labour party (LP), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour. The LP candidate, Rhodes-Vivour, had also reportedly said he is in talks with “the real owners of PDP structure in Lagos State” for that purpose. But, in a statement issued on Monday, by the PDP Publicity Secretary in the State, Hakeem Amode, said the party is not in talks with any political party. Amode, who doubled as Chairman, Media and Publicity Team for JandorFunke 2023 Campaign Council, emphasised that the PDP governorship candidate is not planning to step down for any candidate of any political party. He noted that the PDP is a proper democratic party and that only the state executive of the party can be described as the custodian of the PDP.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the breakdown of seats won by political parties in the National Assembly. The commission conducted the presidential and National Assembly elections on 25 February. INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, in his remarks during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioner (RECs) in Abuja on Saturday, said eight political parties produced lawmakers in the election. The parties are —the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) African Democratic Party (ADC) Young People Party (YPP). There are 18 recognised parties in the country. According to Mr Yakubu, election into 423 out of 469 national legislative seats have been concluded and results declared. He said in the Senate, 98 out of 109 seats have been declared while 325 out of 360 seats have been declared for the House of Represe...

  The Duke and Duchess have been asked to 'vacate' their UK home, the couple's spokesperson has confirmed. Earlier reports suggested that Frogmore Cottage, in the grounds of Windsor Castle, had been offered to Prince Andrew.  But Buckingham Palace has not commented.  Harry and Meghan were reportedly told to leave the property by Buckingham Palace in January, days after Harry published his memoir, Spare.  The late Queen gave the couple, who now reside in the US, the Grade-II listed10-bedroom residence as a gift.  They refurbished the property for an estimated £2.4m in 2018–19, initially covered by taxpayers before being repaid in full by the duke