News & Announcements

Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda, the APC candidate for governor of Plateau State, who lost the election to Caleb Mutfwang of the PDP, threatened to contest the results.

While addressing his supporters in Jos on Tuesday, Yilwatda said, ‘’We were sincere in our hearts. We were sincere in our votes. We didn’t rig anywhere. The two local government areas gave us a difference of 200,000 and we knew it was rigged. There were reported cases of low voter turnout and yet, the votes increased by over 100 per cent. How can low voter turnout turn into high voter turnout? We will challenge the outcome in court.

But, John Akans, the state’s PDP publicity secretary, claimed in an interview that the APC candidate was in a desperate position.

On Tuesday, talks at the Kaduna State PDP branch were dominated by the rejection of the election results.

The APC candidate Senator Uba Sani’s statement that he had won the election for governor of Kaduna State was rejected by the party.

According to reports, the state’s INEC returning officer, Prof. Lawal Suleiman Bilbis of Usman Danfodio University in Sokoto, declared that Sani had received 730,002 votes, while Isah Ashiru of the PDP had received 719,196.

But, Felix Hyet, the state PDP chairman, referred to the APC victory as “daylight theft” when speaking to a press conference in Kaduna on Tuesday.

He said that INEC was inconsistent in announcing the results and involved in denying the state’s citizens what they had voted for.

He noted, “You will please recall my press conference yesterday, 20th March 2023 during which I demanded the use of authentic results from the INEC Server (IReV) as the only accepted results for declaration of the governorship election in our state.

“This was because the lack of transparency from INEC officials was glaring and justice will not be done. Our fears were confirmed last night when the state Returning Officer, Prof. Lawal Bilbis, used the questionable results to declare Sen. Uba Sani of the APC was elected with 730,002 votes against 719,196 votes allocated to our candidate, Rt. Hon Mohamed Isah Ashiru of the PDP.

“The PDP rejects this result and the declaration of Sen. Uba Sani as the winner of the governorship elections of 18/03/2023 in our dear Kaduna State.’’

The party would pursue legal action on the matter, the chairman continued.

Former aviation minister Hyet, when asked if the party will protest the recently held elections, said no, adding, “We have rejected the result and we would take all actions that are lawful to reclaim the mandate of the people of Kaduna State.”

Speaking further, he stated, “The system of collection of results was very untidy and unreliable. Figures kept on being changed. At that time we said people had gone to Lere again and to Kudan. To ascertain what? Another result or what? Therefore, whatever we have seen and whatever that has been declared, we feel it is allocated.’’

“This is because since INEC has a server, that result has gone into that server and this server is under INEC control and custody. There is no reason why INEC will not make use of the authentic result in its server to avoid this broad day robbery that has been meted out to the people of Kaduna State,” he added.

No fewer than 500 women from 13 local government areas of Nasarawa State stormed Lafia, the state capital, dressed in all-black, demanding that the state’s governorship election on Saturday be canceled after Abdullahi Sule of the APC defeated David Ombugadu and other PDP candidates.

Stella Oboshi, the PDP’s state women’s leader, led women from the party and other political parties in a nonviolent demonstration calling for the annulment of the election.

She clarified that the protest was initiated because INEC had declared a winner of the governorship race despite there being disagreement over the results from the state capital’s Gayam and Ciroma electoral districts.

Oboshi’s words were, “What we are doing today is a peaceful protest and it is allowed in a democracy. The reason for our protest is that in Nasarawa State, two electoral wards cannot hold the whole state to ransom.

“The governorship election and that of the House of Assembly were done the same day, the same time and with the same election materials. But the governorship election was announced, and that of the House of Assembly has not been announced up till this moment because it was declared inconclusive.

“If Gayam and Ciroma electoral wards results from Lafia LGA were included in the results that INEC announced for the governorship election but the Assembly elections were inconclusive in the same wards, then INEC should also declare the governorship election inconclusive so that we can start from afresh.”

She urged PDP and other opposition party supporters in the state to maintain their composure while expressing hope that INEC will act appropriately by deeming the already declared governorship election inconclusive.

Tuesday saw protests against the results of the governorship election from the unsuccessful candidates and their supporters, who also pledged to file a legal complaint.

Just as the All Progressives Congress in Kano State granted the Independent National Electoral Commission seven days to declare the governorship election in the state inconclusive, supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party protested in Ogun and Nasarawa states.

As of now, according to INEC’s results of the governorship election, the APC has won 15 states, the PDP has won eight, and the New Nigeria Peoples Party has won Kano State.

As PDP supporters stormed the INEC office in Abeokuta, the state capital, during a protest, a member of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps opened fire into the air to disperse the crowd.

Many PDP members marched to the INEC office under the leadership of the party’s candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu, to protest the results of the election, which Adebutu lost to APC candidate and state governor Dapo Abiodun.

But, chaos broke out when security personnel stopped the party guests from entering the building. An NSCDC official shot a gun during the chaos in an effort to scatter the demonstrators.

He fled from the enraged protesters as they charged at him, throwing stones at him as they did so.

During the brawl, some security personnel, including Department of State Services employees, were hurt.

The protesters, who were singing anti-INEC songs, carried placards that read things like “INEC should save our democracy,” “INEC betrayed the people of Ogun,” “Electoral fraud will not stand,” “INEC should respect people’s wishes,” “INEC should stop being biased,” and “Ogun election was inconclusive, INEC correct yourself,” among other things.

However, heavily armed security personnel prevented the demonstrators from entering the INEC office.

Adebutu announced that he had come to the commission to submit a petition as he entered the building.

He stressed that unless the election commission officials attended to the demonstrators, they would not leave the area.

Adebutu claimed the party had sent the commission three protest letters requesting a review of the results of the election on Saturday and a re-run in any polling places where voting was either canceled or interfered with.

He expressed concern at the use of security forces against the will of the populace and cautioned that this could lead to yet another #Endsars protest.

Adebutu stated, “We are here to protest, but unfortunately we have been confronted by security men, shooting sporadically into the air, in the hope that they would disperse us, but we are resolute, we are going to stay here until we are addressed by officials of INEC.

“We contend that the measures by which other states have been treated and they are allowed to have rerun should apply to Ogun State.’’

He stated that Ogun State should follow Adamawa and Kebbi states in declaring the governorship elections inconclusive.

Thereafter, Adebutu met behind closed doors with certain INEC representatives. Adebutu asked his supporters to uphold the law as he left the assembly.

Nasir Gawuna, an APC candidate for governor in Kano on Saturday, claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should have ruled the election inconclusive.

This was initiated by Gawuna on Tuesday when speaking to journalists in Kano.

Gawuna, who was accompanying party leaders, said it was astonishing that 16 House of Assembly elections held on the same day and under the same circumstances as the first poll were deemed inconclusive by INEC.

The New Nigeria Peoples Party’s (NNPP) Abba Kabir Yusif was declared the winner of the recently-concluded governorship election in Kano, but the APC in Kano rejected the news and demanded an immediate review of the election results by the electoral umpire within seven days.

The party’s chairman, Abdullahi Abbas, made this announcement to reporters during a last-minute press conference on Tuesday in the afternoon at the APC’s Kano campaign headquarters.

The APC chairman, who was represented by the party’s legal counsel, Abdul Adamu Fagge, insists that the election should be declared to be unresolved because the number of votes that were cancelled exceeded the margin between the first and second-place parties, the NNPP and APC, as specified by the Electoral Act.

The party also brought up the cancellation of 16 House of Assembly elections in the state due to violence, even though the same votes were used to determine the winner of the governorship. It expressed shock that the two elections happened on the same day, at the same time, in the same locations, and under the same conditions.

The Chief Economist at the Economic Commission for Africa, Hanan Morsy, has said Africa currently accounts for more than half of the World’s poor 54. 8 percent.

Morsy said this at the 55th session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, according to a News Agency of Nigeria report.

She said, “The continent faced a tsunami of global shocks that have exacerbated existing socio-economic operation and equity. As a result of these shocks, Africa currently accounts for more than half of the world’s poor at 54.8 percent. And we have estimated 548 million Africans living in poverty in 2022 and 149 million at risk of falling into poverty in the same year.

“There is a skewed distribution across the continent in terms of concentration of these issues, with particularly East and West Africa having a higher share of poverty across regions,’ ’she said.

Morsy said the situation was further exacerbated by existing inequalities, noting that even in times of high economic growth in Africa, the rate of inequality still rose.

She explained that several recommendations, both domestic and international, had been put in place to help tackle this.

“We need to pursue inclusive macroeconomic policies such as targeted and efficient spending and build resilience to future shocks at the household and community level.

“African governments need to enhance resource mobilization. To do that. I think several measures would help, including closing tax loopholes.”

A fire incident has occurred at the White House section of the Onitsha Market, Anambra State.

The section, popularly called “Gbongboro”, serves as a warehouse, where lace and other clothing materials are sold and is located at the back of the market.

No one could ascertain the actual cause of the fire, but the inferno, which started in the early hours of Tuesday, destroyed millions of naira worth of goods.

The traders were seen running helter-skelter as they tried to salvage the remaining of their goods while calling for the men of the fire service.

An eyewitness said, “The fire started at the White House where they sell lace materials. The place was supposed to be a motor park and an emergency exit but the people blocked it with illegal structures through the approval of some government agencies.

“Even when the fire service comes, there might not be an entry point where they could enter easily to start fighting the fire. Even the traders could not enter to salvage their items and this has made the fire continue to rage.”

The state fire chief, Martin Agbili, could not be reached for reactions around 9:20 am as the fire continued to rage.

The state police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, said, “The details are still sketchy but the situation is being monitored and firefighters operatives and police are there.”

Yesterday, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu gave his approval for the implementation of a 20% pay raise for state employees.

The employees include individuals who work for the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Local Government Areas, and Local Council Development Areas.

Beginning on January 1st, 2023, the new pay system will be in place. Also, the arrears for the months of January 2023 and February 2023 will be paid concurrently with the salaries for the following months of March and April, respectively.

The Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, announced the implementation of the salary in a circular, saying: “This is to notify for general information that Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu in his determination to improve the welfare and wellbeing of public servants in Lagos State has kindly approved an increase in Salaries for Officers in the Mainstream Public Service, Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas as well as the State Universal Basic Education.

“Furthermore, kindly note that the arrears for the month of January, 2023 will be paid along with Salaries for the month of March, 2023, while the arrears for the month of February, 2023 will be paid together with the salaries of April, 2023.

“This action further demonstrates this Administration’s commitment to Staff welfare. Public Servants are thus enjoined to show more commitment and dedication in the delivery of qualitative service to the citizens of the State.

“Accordingly, all Accounting Officers are to note the contents of this Circular and give it the Service- wide publicity it deserves.”

The dawn to dark curfew that was imposed in Kano State has been lifted in an effort to maintain law and order in the wake of the tensions caused by the declaration of the results of the gubernatorial and state Assembly elections.

In a statement sent to Kano’s press media, the state’s commissioner for information and internal affairs, Muhammad Garba, announced the curfew’s removal.

According to him, “the decision to lift the curfew was after careful review of the situation and the relative calm throughout the state”.

However, the commissioner urged commercial banks, government employees, and residents of the state to show up and carry on with their regular enterprises or daily activities.

A musician named Collins Etaredafe, aka Top Boy, has disappeared after being accused of murdering two unnamed Bureau-De-Change personnel at his home in the Lekki neighborhood of Lagos State.

It was learned that Etaredafe allowed the BDC operators inside his flat under the pretense of changing some money when he was there with an unidentified friend.

On Saturday, March 18, 2023, after their entry into the facility, it was discovered that the BDC operators had reportedly been murdered and their bodies placed in a drainage system in front of Etaredafe’s home.

Paul Omotosho, a facility manager in the vicinity, claimed that the agent in charge of the building told him that several neighbors had found the bodies in the drainage and had followed some blood stains to Etaredafe’s flat.

Omotosho said, “I knew Etaredafe through his girlfriend, Evelyn, about three years ago when she contacted me that he needed an apartment. That was how he got my number. He called me, said he stays in Delta State, and that he wants to book a short-let apartment. That was how he became a regular client.

“Sometimes he would claim he does not know Lagos and will send money to my account to help him get some items and send them to him. In February 2022, he said he wanted to secure an apartment where his mum would be living in Lagos; he said he wanted to surprise her with the apartment as she has not been to Lagos before.

“I had to reach out to a fellow agent who assisted me in getting the apartment. After that, the agent sent me a form to fill in the details of the occupant but when I asked for the details of his mum, he said she did not have any means of identification. Out of the trust I had for him as a regular client, I foolishly provided someone’s details to keep the place for him and since then, my thinking is that his mother had moved in.”

Omotosho claimed that Etaredafe had been residing in his mother’s flat when the agent in charge of the building contacted to say that the musician was suspected of killing the BDC employees while Omotosho was at home.

He said, “The agent called me that Etaredafe had killed two people in his apartment. He also said he dumped their corpses outside the gate and ran away.

“The agent said the blood of the deceased victims was traced to his apartment and later discovered that the people the musician killed were Bureau-De-Change operators. I was told he invited them to his apartment because he wanted to change dollars before killing them.”

Omotosho claimed that in an effort to find Etaredafe, he got in touch with his girlfriend, who claimed not to be aware of any addresses for any of his relatives.

He said, “She later called me on Monday and asked if I heard that Etaredafe killed two people in his house and ran away. She said they only met on social media and she does not know where he or his family lives.”

Omotosho was, however, requested to be questioned on Friday as part of an inquiry by the police officers assigned to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba.

The facility manager and two other agents who assisted him in securing the apartment for Etaredafe were apprehended when he visited the SCID.

SP Benjamin Hundeyin, the state police’s public relations officer, confirmed the incident.

He said, “The main suspects are on the run. No part of the deceased victims’ bodies was cut off. The case is at the SCID and is progressing. The security man is in custody and is assisting with the investigation.”

On Saturday night, Igbo in Lagos were cautioned against “interfering” in state politics by Bayo Onanuga, a spokesperson for Bola Tinubu, the incoming president.

Using his official Twitter account, @aonanuga1956, Onanuga, the director of media and publicity for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, tweeted the warning.

He tweeted, “Let 2023 be the last time of Igbo interference in Lagos politics. Let there be no repeat in 2027. Lagos is like Anambra, Imo, any Nigerian state. It is not No Man’s Land, not Federal Capital Territory. It is Yoruba land. Mind your business.”

Olusegun Osoba, a former governor of Ogun State, had earlier pleaded with residents of “Igbo extract” in Lagos to refrain from turning the election into a tribal matter.