The Editorials

Oredola Adeola A group known as Free Lagos  Orange Movement converged in Lagos on Thursday to kick start the anti-Tinubu's O to Ge” movement. The activists group gathered for its inaugural rally at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, ahead of the March 9, Gubernatorial election. The group that is made up of political activists in the state met at the  Oranmiyan Hall in the hotel to strategize on how to end the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) dynasty in Lagos. The activists also planned to stop Asiwaju from foisting Mr.Babajide Sanwo-Olu,  APC's Governorship candidate on the state, condemning  the violence that characterised the February 23 presidential and National Assembly elections in some parts of Lagos State. The activities of the group was however disrupted when other members who arrived  the venue in three BRT buses were denied entrance by the Police who shot into air to disperse them. Journalists and some gro

Celebration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory  by supporters of the party in Lagos has led to the death of two person while several others sustained various degree of injuries, as  thugs and hired urchins  reportedly used the occasion to unleash mayhem on the Igbo traders in Ojo, Oshodi and Tinubu areas of the state. At the early hours of Wednesday , traders and people living around Alaba-Rago, Ojo witnessed road block by the supporters of APC who were chanting Sai Baba in celebration of Buhari's victory. Residents of the area claimed that the urchins who were predominantly operators of commercial motorcycle fondly called Okada riders blocked the Mile 2-Badagry expressway harassing people along the busy route. It was gathered that the armed thugs made bonfires on the road brandishing dangerous weapons beating and robbing innocent people. The hoodlums later proceeded to Okokomaiko, along the Badagry-Mile two expressway, and later to Cassidy, down to Alaba-Rago, p

Oredola Adeola | Post-election jitter has continued to impact on the Nigerian equities market as portfolio investors have been monitoring the country’s political trend, causing a sustained losses totaling N 170bn in two days.  This is happened after the announcement of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as winner of the Saturday, February 23 Presidential election. The Editorials discovered that the sentiment of investors on the market has been negative, while they have been cautious in taking investment positions even after the election and announcement of winner. Nigerian equities market on Wednesday extended negative trend in the second trading session of the year as the All-Share Index declined by 0.96 per cent., shedding 298.74 basis points, representing to close at 30,771.32 points while market capitalisation shed N111 billion at N11.475 trillion. Earlier on Tuesday the market recorded negative performance as investors lost N85.611 billion,

Oredola Adeola| Senator Ayo Akinyelure, candidate of the  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has emerged  winner of the Ondo Central Senatorial District election held on Saturday , February 23. Senator Ayo Pius Akinyelure, Ondo Central Senatorial District Akinyelure, popularly known as 'Allover' polled 66, 978 votes to defeat the incumbent, Ayo Alasoadure, of the All Progressives Congress(APC) who garnered 57,828 votes and former Ondo Governor, Olusegun Mimiko of the Zenith Labour Party(ZLP) who also polled 56,624 votes. The Businessman turned Politician  was first elected to the Senate under Labour Party in 2011, when he defeated Gbenga Ogunniya of the PDP. He served a single term and was defeated by Senator Alasoadura in 2015 general election. Call 08098262437 to book a space here  The Idanre-born Senator however defected from the LP, to PDP and later to APC, had recently returned to PDP under which he contested for the Senatorial seat. Mr Akinyelure had e

Oredola Adeola| President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have received their certificate of return as President-elect and Vice President-elect from Professor Yakubu Mahmood, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) at International Conference Centre ( ICC), Abuja on Wednesday afternoon. In his remark after receiving the certificate, President Buhari promised to strive to strengthen the country’s unity and inclusiveness, assuring that no section or group in the country feel left behind or left out in Nigeria. Recall that President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo, polled 15,191,847 defeating the candidates of PDP who polled 11,262,978 votes. The statement reads in part: First and foremost, I give thanks to Almighty God Who has spared our lives to witness another victory for Nigerian democracy and victory for our party APC. " I thank the millions of Nigerians who voted to re-elect me as your president for the next four yea

Oredola Adeola | The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Yakubu Mahmood has declared President Muhammadu Buhari winner of February 23, 2019 Presidential election at around 4:39 am, Wednesday, 27, 2019, after polling 15,191,847 votes to defeat his closest rival, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, who scored 11,262,978 votes. He defeated 73 other candidates by scoringthe highest number of votes in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Lagos, Kogi, Kwara, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States. Professor Mahmood who is the Returning Officer in the Presidential Election however declared winner in the race having defeated his closest challenger, Atiku, by a wide margin –3,928,869 votes. Call 08098262437 to book an advert here  The INEC Chairman however revealed that the Certificate of Return will be presented to President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo on We

The members of both chambers of the National Assembly will the resume plenary earlier scheduled on February 26, after a month break. Interestingly, some of the results released by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has shown that most of the 66 Senators that went into the poll to seek re-election were not voted by their constituencies. Recall that the resumption of plenary session earlier scheduled for Tuesday , 19  February 2019 was postponed till Tuesday , 26 February , 2019 due to the postponement of the national elections. As at Tuesday,February 26 ,  Lawmakers who lost their senatorial election, are Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki (PDP Kwara Central); Senate Minority Leader, Senator Biodun Olujimi (PDP Ekiti South); former Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio (APC Akwa Ibom North West); Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso (PDP Kano Central); Senator Shehu Sani (PRP Kaduna Central); Senator Mohammed Hassan (PDP Yobe South); Senator Binta Masi (APC Adamawa

Senator Dino Melaye and Ike Ekweremadu both of the Peoples Democratic Party, in Kogi West and Enugu West Senatorial Districts have both been declared winner in the Senatorial election held on Feb. 23. Dino Melaye and DSP Ike Ekweremadu  In the case of Kogi West Senatorial Districts, the Returning Officer , Prof. Emmanuel Bala announced in the early hours of Monday in Lokoja that Melaye polled 85, 395 votes to defeat Sen . Smart Adeyemi of the APC who scored 66, 901 votes. In another interesting development, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu , PDP candidate has also been declared winner of Enugu West Senatorial District for the fifth time in Saturday National Assembly election. Ekweremadu polled 86,088 votes to defeat his closest rival , Mrs Juliet Ibekaku - Nwagwu of the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) who scored 15,187 votes. Advertise with us, please call 08098262437 The Returning Officer , Prof Douglas Nwagbo of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka ( UN

A Ranking Member of the House of Representative in the United States Congress, Rep Chris Smith, has charged the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) to urgently release the result of the Presidential election which held on Saturday , February 23. He made this statement against the backdroo of report of an underground attempt  by INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioners and the ruling party to alter figures of the results already announced at the polling units in states and localities — including Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, as a measure to make up for the huge ground already lost by President Muhammadu Buhari of All Progressive Congress(APC). According to the US Congress Rep, “On Saturday, Nigeria voted. Till date, votes are being counted. I am very concerned by credible reports that the vote is being tampered with. To avoid any manipulation of the tally, it is critical that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announce without delay actual r

Oredola Adeola| Yakubu Dogara the Speaker of the House of Representatives, candidate of PDP, has been declared as Winner of the Tafawa Balewa/Bogoro Federal Constituency election in Bauchi State, with 73,609 votes defeating Mr Dalhatu Kantana, candidate of APC who polled 50,078 votes. Saraki and Dogara  The Speaker was however  declared the winner in the National Assembly election which held on Saturday 23, by the INEC’s returning officer for the constituency  on Sunday at the collation centre in Bauchi. With this result, the Speaker is expected to return to the Federal House of Representative Abuja, may choose to recontested as Speaker. In a related event, Senate President, Bukola Saraki has lost his seat as Senator representing Kwara Central, as candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party to Dr. Yahaya Oloriegbe of the All Progressives Congress , in Saturday’ s Senatorial election which held in Kwara State. The result was announced by the Senatorial District Returning

Oredola Adeola | The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) has postponed the  collation and announcement of Presidential election that held on Saturday February 23, till 11 am on Monday February 25. Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Commission made this disclosure during the formal opening of the collation centre for the Presidential election at the International Conference Centre Abuja on Sunday. Recall that as at Sunday evening in 2015, the results had started coming from INEC. In his first official address to the party officials, journalists,  local and international observers at the collation centre, Professor Yakubu announced the rules guiding the conduct of elections especially  in the case of announcement of the results. He however adjourned the proceeding to the next day( Monday) The INEC Chairman said, “ At the moment no State Collation Officer is around. Some of them are expected tonight. Accordingly, proceedings are hereby adjourned. We will

Fredrick Nwabufo He woke up to a bright and sunny morning. It is an important day; a time to do his bounden duty to his country. Nothing betokened that it will be his final rite to this “shrine”. Instead of taking his vote, it took his life. A young voter killed at a polling unit in Anyigba, Dekina local government area, Kogi state. He was allegedly killed during an argument over who he should vote for. He died violently exercising his right in a place that should have been a refuge. In Rivers, the grim-reaper’s scythe reportedly hacked down two persons. And there are reports of unmitigated violence at different places in the state. An agent of a political party was shot dead by security agents. In Delta, three voters were reportedly killed by the crimson bullets of some armed thugs at a polling unit in Amukpe area of Sapele town. The violators were said to have shot at voters as they queued to cast their ballots. In Bayelsa, two persons were reported killed in Membe a

More than 500 Chadian soldiers have entered through the Nigerian/Chadian border on the Friday barely few hours into the conduct of the country’s Presidential election, to “ lend a hand ” to the Nigerian army in its efforts to tackle the Boko Haram jihadist group , a Chad army spokesman told AFP. The regional force comprised of troops from Nigeria, Cameroon , Chad and Niger, are still part of the multinational force fighting insurgency in the North East. The soldiers are deployed on join the  combat troops fighting Boko Haram, on Saturday while the election is ongoing. Boko Haram is active mainly in Nigeria, but the group periodically stages raids in neighbouring countries such as Chad , Niger, and Cameroon. The Jihadists group has killed five people , wounded five others, and kidnapped nine — including six women — in attacks on two villages in western Chad , an official source told AFP Thursday. The attacks took place Tuesday night, according to Dimouya Soiapebe, gen

Oredola Adeola | President Muhammadu Buhari has denied the claim by the opposition that he has an agenda to impose Islam on Nigeria. "He made this known in a statement signed and released by Mr. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity. The statement by Mr Adesina said, “It has come to the notice of President Muhammadu Buhari, ahead of the forthcoming elections, that some unscrupulous Nigerians are again falsely and wickedly claiming that the administration has an agenda to impose Islam on Nigeria. “The objective is clearly to stoke up religious division for political gains. Some of these same persons made these devious and fabricated claims ahead of the 2015 election. They failed woefully. “The President strongly affirms the oath he took before the Nigerian people to faithfully defend the Constitution of Nigeria. That constitution guarantees freedom of worship for every Nigerian. "It is this guarantee that enables all Nigerians to

The Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had donated N1million to ailing comic Bollywood actor, Babatunde Omidina, fondly called Baba Suwe. The VP reportedly released the cash to the Baba Suwe through the Youth Organising Secretary of the All Progressive Congress, Idris Aregbe on Thursday. Baba Suwe  Recall that Baba Suwe's health issue has been in the news for some days as he suspected to be down with diabetic complications among other ailments.  Idris Aregbe, Youth Organising Secretary of APC Lagos, who on behalf of the VP paid a visit to the actor at his residence in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, also delivered a goodwill message to the comic actor.  Baba Suwe, upon the receipt of the donation however commended Professor Osinbajo for his kind gesture. He described the gesture as a timely response to his call for financial assistance from well- meaning Nigerians.  Baba Suwe however  told the VP's team that his treatment abroad would cost him a total of N10million. Mr

The Ogun State Police Command has announced the arrest of one Mrs Aderonke Ayinde, 45, a resident of Asalu Compound , Abeokuta, Ogun State, for allegedly dumping the corpse of her lover, Asimiu Abiodun, in the bush. The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in a statement made available to reporters on Thursday. Aderonke Ayinde According to the statement, the suspect was spotted by a neighbour, Makinde Ishola, while trying to dump the corpse of her lover, who had passed the night in her rented apartment, in the bush. Abiodun was said to have died in the middle of the night at the suspect’s No.1 Asalu Compound, Abeokuta, residence. The PPRO said, “The arrest of the suspect followed a report lodged in the Oke - Itoku Police Station by one Makinde Ishola, who reported that he received information that a middle - aged man, whose name was later known as Asimiu Abiodun, came to visit the suspect at her No.1 Asalu Compound, Abeokuta, re

Oredola Adeola| The Federal Government has declared Friday, February 22, 2019, as a public holiday, in preparation for the Saturday, February 23 Presidential and parliamentary elections. The Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau disclosed this in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Interior Ministry, Barr Georgina Ehuriah on Wednesday. Abdurahman Danbazau, Min. of Interior Meanwhile, the FG's statement excluded bankers and those offering essential services across the nation. The statement said, “Federal Government declares Friday 22, February 2019 as work-free day. Those providing essential duties and bankers are excluded. Advertisement “The work-free day is to enable citizens return to their poling units for the reschedule Presidential & National Assembly elections. “Security agencies have been directed to ensure safety of lives and property before, during and after the general election.”

Oredola Adeola | President Muhammadu Buhari has finally bowed to pressure by the Saudi Arabia-led Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, Nigeria to cut oil output being part of efforts to eliminate excess supply, caps a turbulent week for OPEC that started with a decision by Qatar to leave the cartel. Nigeria as one of the 14-nation OPEC group and 10 other producer countries are working hard to drain oversupply in the oil market, while Saudi Arabia delivered the biggest cuts. Before now  Nigeria and Iraq have been pumping more than 100,000 bpd above their quotas. The country was exempted from the last round of output curbs and it also overshot its cap by 107,000 in January. Nigeria’s crude oil daily production recorded an upward swing of about 2.09million barrels in 2018, translating to a 9 per cent increment, compared with the 2017 average daily production of 1.86million barrels.  President Buhari made pledge for output cut when he received Mr. Ahmad Qatt

The Federal Government of Nigeria has ordered the immediate payment of February salary to enable workers wishing to travel for Saturday's Presidential and National Assembly election to do so without any difficulties. Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) had on Saturday, February 16, shifted the Presidential and National Assembly elections to February 23. The Minister of Information and Culture , Alhaji Lai Mohammed , made this known when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting of the Federal Executive Council. The meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa , Abuja , on Wednesday. The Minister said the National Union of Road Transport Workers with about two million members and operates motor parks in all the 774 local government areas across the country had offered to provide a discount to travellers. Advertisement  “ This discount is also to en

Oredola Adeola | The Akwa Ibom State Government has commissioned and inaugurated its own airline, IBOM AIR. The unveiling ceremony held on Wednesday at the Victor Attach International Airport, Uyo, Akwa Ibom.  One of three aircraft landed at Victor Attah International Airport on Tuesday. The three new aircraft have been acquired to kickstart commercial operations within Uyo-Lagos-Abuja routes. The Akwa Ibom State Government revealed that the Airline  is expected to run as a limited liability company and is expected to boost the state's economy and tourism. Speaking on the landmark project Governor Emmanuel Udom, said "Aviation development cannot be underemphasized if my vision for an industrialized State must be actualized. "Having turned the State to an Investors’ haven in less than 4years of my admin.,there is therefore,a strong need to improve infrastructure&facilities in our airport to get the facility ready for the influx of investors.

Oredola Adeola with agency reports | Following the deportation of about 723 Nigerians living in Ghana for breaching immigration laws  between 2018 and 2019 by the Ghana Immigration Service, the Federal Government through the Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana, has described the action as barbaric and inhuman. Ambassador Michael Abikoye , Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana made this known during a meeting between him and the Comptroller - General of the GIS, Kwame Takyi, in Ghana.  News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the High Commissioner during the meeting said 723 Nigerians were deported on alleged illegal stay , cybercrime and prostitution between January 2018 and January 2019. The High Commissioner disclosed that , 81 Nigerians were deported on alleged cybercrime and illegal stay in January , while 115 have so far been deported on the allegation of overstay and prostitution. He warned Ghana that any ill treatment of Nigerians would not be acceptable to the Ni

Oredola Adeola and agency reporters | The Ogun State Government has described the attempted distribution of Federal Government’s “Trader Moni” loan in Abeokuta, Ogun State on Tuesday, as a form of vote buying, ahead of the General elections. Add caption This revelation was made by Hon.Monsuru Shorunke, Chairman of Abeokuta North-West Local Council Development Area (LCDA), who claimed to have been authorised by Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State , to disperse the officials of the scheme and their beneficiaries. The Trader Moni scheme, is a Federal Government social intervention programme, which provides interest-free loans of N10,000 to traders and market men and women. The scheme is supervised directly the office of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo. Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN), Hon. Shorunke who led his men to Lafenwa Market , venue of the programme after the information reached the Governor, confirmed that he was at the market on Tuesday to disp

Oredola Adeola| Hajia Hafsat Baba , Kaduna State Commissioner of Women Affairs & Social Development, has described Professor Okechukwu Ibeanu, as a Biafra apologist, who replaced Mrs Amina Zakari, as the National Commissioner for Logistics of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Professor Ibeanu, INEC's National Commissioner for Logistics She made this statement in a tweet on Tuesday, via her official Twitter handle @HafsatMohBaba. According to her, “ The unsung hero, in this very anticlimactic turn of events, is our dear Amina Zakari. She was bullied out of the logistics position in INEC and replaced by a male, Biafra-apologist Prof. Okechukwu Ibeanu. She has been vindicated, one of our very own Arewa Sheroes.  In her tweet, the Kaduna State Commissioner said, “I sent out that tweet, with the hope that a statement will be derivable from the discourse it will generate. “The bullying of Amina Zakari included very condescending references to t

Oredola Adeola| Nigerian eligible voters who are willing to travel by air to their polling stations across the country have been offered discounted airfares by Aero Contractors and Arik Air, as part of measures to encourage participation in the rescheduled Presidential election billed for Saturday February 23. These travellers have  been asked to present their Permanent Voters Card(PVC) to enjoy from the promo fares. This announcement was made in separate statements released on Monday, by spokespersons of the two national carriers. Chika Ubendu, the spokesperson for Aero Contractors, said the airline has decided to slash its fares by 50% to encourage the citizens to travel to where they can cast their votes. According to Ubendu, the promo will be effective from February 18 for travels between February 21 and February 25 on all her routes.  Arik Air's, Adebanji Ola, said the N16,000 Fly to Vote promotion was to encourage Nigerians to travel to their respective wards

Oredola Adeola| The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has issued a directive urging its members to reduce petroleum pump price from N145 to N140 as part of relief measure from the part the association to encourage voter’s participation in the rescheduled polls. Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, National President of the association, who was  represented by Alhaji Bashir Salisu Tahir, Northwest zonal Chairman. disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday evening.  According to him, the implementation of the directives would take effective from Wednesday, February 20. He said the decision followed last Saturday’s postponement of Presidential and National Assembly elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The IPMAN President revealed that voters had travelled to different places across the country in order to cast their votes, but to their dismay, the elections were shifted. He said, “IPMAN is prompted to slash N5 from the N14

The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) and the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) have denied the report over alleged killings of 66 Fulani in Kajuru Local Government Area. The Kaduna State Government had on Friday February 15, condemned the killing of 66 persons in Kajuru LGA, while the PDP described the reported incident as fake news, adding that the Kujuru local govt where many people were killed  has no basis but the creation of APC  to cause  panic and confusion. Recall that Governor Nasir El-Rufai had at 10pm on that Friday, via news on Channels TV and Television Continental( TVC) confirmed the crisis and the killings. Samuel Aruwan, Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to Kaduna State Government in a statement released on Friday, condemned the killing of 66 persons in Kajuru LGA, warning all communities against instigating attacks or reprisals. He disclosed that security agencies have been deployed to the area, while arrests have been made. According t