Author: Adejuyigbe Francis

Ahead of the forthcoming presidential election, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has pledged to pursue 40% affirmative action for women in political appointments. Obi also said he would encourage the same for women in the corporate sector. The former Anambra State governor, who disclosed this in a post via his verified Twitter handle on Thursday, also said he would strive to ensure that Nigerian youths are adequately represented in governance. He wrote: “One of my major policy planks is inclusivity: accordingly striving for gender parity remains a priority. We are presently committed to 40% affirmative action…

Ahead of the forthcoming 2023 elections, President Muhammadu Buhari has warned against riots or acts of violence after the announcement of the election results. The president also insisted he would be neutral and allow the rule of law to take precedence over political expediency. Buhari gave the warning on Thursday in a statement via his verified Twitter handle. He advised that all grievances, personal or institutional, be channelled to relevant courts. The president reminded Nigerians that today marks one year since he signed the Electoral Act 2022. Buhari noted that the act was one of the most important legacies of…

Former Radio Biafra anchorman, Simon Ekpa has been arrested in Finland. Ekpa was taken into custody on Thursday 48 hours before the start of the general elections in Nigeria. Criminal Investigator, Tommi Reen from the Central Criminal Police told the HS news outlet that the Keskusrikospoliisi (KRP), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Finland had a police operation in a private apartment in the centre of Lahti. Reen said the operation was connected to an ongoing preliminary investigation. He did not comment further on the matter. Nigeria had asked Finland to intervene in Ekpa’s activities. Last week, the Minister…

The 2023 general election will be one of the freest, fairest and most credible in Nigeria’s history in spite of President Muhammadu Buhari’s support for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Bola Tinubu. The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) gave this assurance after an assessment of the preparations and build-up to the elections starting on Saturday. In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO said that the President has given the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) all the necessary support to ensure a free and fair electoral process. President Buhari has…

Croatia defender Dejan Lovren has retired from international football at the age of 33. The Lyon centre-back announced on Thursday that he has played his last game for his country. Lovren won 78 caps, the last of which coming in a 3-0 World Cup semi-final defeat to an Argentina side that went on to be crowned champions in Qatar in December. The former Liverpool man, who made his Croatia debut in 2009, was an unused substitute for a victory over Morocco’s in the third-place play-off. Lovren played his part in Croatia’s run to the World Cup final in 2018, when they…

Air Peace on Thursday announced that flight operations will be suspended on February 25 as a result of the general elections. However flight operations will resume February 26, the local airline assured. The airline disclosed this in a statement via its official Instagram handle. The statement reads, “Members of the public are hereby informed that there will be no scheduled flights on February 25, 2023, due to the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections. “Scheduled flight operations resume on Sunday, February 26, 2023.”

The Electoral Act of 2022 signed by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in May last year, has laid the groundwork for free, fair and credible elections on February 25 and March 11, 2023. The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, made this claim at the 67th session of the State House Ministerial Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team, at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. Malami’s claim comes barely 48 hours to the presidential and National Assembly elections holding on Saturday, February 25. According to the AGF, the Act embodies enough legislative, political…

Legendary football commentator, John Motson, is dead. Motson died at the age of 77. Motson’s death was disclosed in a statement released by his family on Thursday. The statement read, “It is with great sadness that we announce that John Motson OBE died peacefully in his sleep today.” Motson covered ten World Cups, ten European Championships and twenty-nine FA Cup finals during his 50-year career with the BBC. He retired from broadcasting back in 2018.

Barely 72 hours before the presidential election, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, says it did not call for a sit-at-home during the 2023 polls starting from Saturday. IPOB disclosed that it’s not interested in Nigeria’s election process, adding that it did not call for a boycott. Emma Powerful, the spokesman of IPOB, said those calling for a sit-at-home in the Southeast during the election are anti-democratic forces. A statement by Powerful reads partly: “The global family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the command and leadership of our great leader Mazi Nnamdi KANU who is…

U.S. President Joe Biden called on Thursday for Nigeria’s presidential election on Saturday to be peaceful and transparent. The U.S. president also urged candidates and parties to accept the results as announced by the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Nigerians are set on Saturday to vote in presidential and parliamentary elections that are seen as the most wide-open since Africa’s most populous nation switched from military rule to democracy in 1999. Of the 18 candidates vying to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, three stand a chance. Former Lagos Governor Bola Tinubu, 70, the ruling party (All Progressives Congress) candidate; former…

All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate Bola Tinubu has given a hint of how he will fight corruption if elected. Tinubu is vying for the presidency against Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP; Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; Rabiu Kwankwaso, New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, among others. In a letter to Nigerians on Thursday, he said his government would implement policies that would make people shun different forms of graft. Tinubu promised a robust and credit system to enable people to acquire the basics of life, such as housing, cars and household equipment and pay gradually. The former…

Former Nigerian lawmaker and social critic, Shehu Sani, has urged the residents of the South East zone to resist and disobey the sit-at-home order by Simon Ekpa’s faction of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB. Senator Sani’s statement is contained in a post via his verified Twitter handle on Thursday. Recall that the outlawed separatist group had threatened to issue a sit-at-home order in the South East during the general elections. However, the former lawmaker has insisted that the sit-at-home order has a negative and retrogressive action against the democratic rights of the people in the South Eastern part of…