News Update: Election Tribunal in Kaduna dismisses APC's objection as Former Gov Chimaroke's case suffers set back in Enugu

The Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Kaduna State, on Thursday, dismissed the preliminary objection filed by the State Governor, Uba Sani, on the timeliness of the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate, Isah Ashiru.

Sani’s legal team argued that the petition put forward by the petitioners was filed outside the 21-day window allowed by the law.

Chimaroke suffers set back in Enugu

National election tribunal sitting in Enugu has struck out the petition filed by the former Governor of Enugu state, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, challenging the election of Senator Kelvin Chukwu of the Labour party.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had declared Chukwu, who replaced his late brother murdered during the campaign ahead of the February 25, 2023, as the winner of the Enugu East Senatorial district election, having scored over 69,000 votes to defeat Chimaroke Nnamani who secured about 49,000 votes.

Nnamani alleged that the election was marred by over-voting, irregularities, election malpractices and non-compliance with the electoral guidelines and petitioned the tribunal and urged the tribunal to declare him the rightful winner of the election or cancel the election.

The tribunal which consists of 3-man panel led by Justice Nusirat I. Umar  unani upheld Chukwu’s victory and awarded a cost of N500,000 against the petitioners in favour of the three respondents, Kelvin Chukwu, Labour Party and INEC.

The three man honourable Justices unanimously dismissed the petition for being vague, lacking in merit, incompetent, generic and academic exercise

Ebonyi State Governor announces plan to overhaul educational systems in the state

The Governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru, has said his administration is working hard to overhaul the education system in the state.

He maintained that the country’s universities and other higher institutions of learning should offer courses that are capable of “putting food on the tables of graduates” and make them self-reliant.

The governor stated this during an interview today , saying the society was no longer comfortable with graduates who could not fend for themselves because they were unskilled.

INEC raises alarm over uncollected voters card

Over 241, 715 Permanent Voter Cards have yet to be collected by the voters in Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa states two weeks to the October 9, 2023 deadline issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission for the collection of the cards ahead of the November 11 off-cycle governorship polls in the three states.

While 107,715 voter cards were awaiting collection in Kogi, no fewer than 134,000 had yet to be claimed by prospective voters in Imo State. However, the figure of unclaimed PVCs cards in Bayelsa State was unavailable.

The electoral commission has, however, said it will not extend the PVCs collection in the states and admonished registered voters not to delay in picking up their cards.

The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi and the Kogi State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Gabriel Longpet, both affirmed in separate interviews with newsmen , that there was no going back on the October 9 deadline.

Millions to benefit from China’s water project

China has said that 2.5 million residents will benefit from the ongoing Water Supply Project in the Federal Capital Territory.

The Greater Abuja Water Supply Project, which was flagged off in May 2021, and constructed by the Water Supply Division of CGC Nigeria Limited, is managed by the Federal Capital Development Authority and jointly financed by the Export-Import Bank of China.

This is contained in a document sent to our correspondent on Thursday from the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria.

The project aims to construct four pipeline loops, thereby enhancing the city’s water supply capacity by 480,000 metric cube per day

The statement stated that Upon completion, the project  will alleviate water scarcity in 50 districts, benefiting an estimated 2.5 million residents.

North Korea enshrines nuclear power status in constitution

North Korea has enshrined its status as a nuclear power in its constitution, with leader Kim Jong Un calling for more modern atomic weapons to counter the threat from the United States, state media reported Thursday.

Despite international sanctions over its nuclear weapons programme, North Korea has according to report conducted a record number of missile tests this year, ignoring warnings from the United States, South Korea and their allies.

Diplomatic efforts to convince Pyongyang to give up its atomic arsenal failed, and the constitutional change came after Kim’s declaration last year that North Korea was an “irreversible” nuclear weapons state.

North Korea’s “nuclear force-building policy has been made permanent as the basic law of the state, which no one is allowed to flout”, Kim said at a meeting of the State People’s Assembly, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

US: Biden to speak on protecting country’s democratic institutions

US President Joe Biden is expected to will give a key speech in Arizona today on protecting democratic institutions, in a fresh attack on Donald Trump as the rivals ramp up their 2024 election battle.

The White House said Democrat Biden’s speech will also “honour the legacy” of late Arizona senator John McCain, the moderate Republican stalwart who shared his antipathy for Trump.

With polls showing them neck-and-neck, the 80-year-old Biden has recently stepped up attacks on Republican frontrunner Trump for trying to “destroy” democracy.

Trump according to report is facing criminal charges for trying to subvert the 2020 election, which his supporters tried to overturn by attacking the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Biden’s speech in Tempe, Arizona “will focus on the importance of America’s institutions in preserving our democracy and the need for constant loyalty to the US Constitution,” a White House official said.

Marketers call for stability in gas price in Nigeria

The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers has called on the Federal Government to find ways to ensure stability of gas prices and make it available to the common Nigerians.

The NALPGAM National President, Abideen Olatunbosun, made this call during the 36th annual general meeting/conference of the association, with the theme, ‘Expanding gas utilisation beyond imagination’, in Ibadan, Oyo State..

He explained that if nothing was done to the increase in price, gas would soon be a commodity for the few rich

Iwobi scores on fist start of the season

Alex Iwobi scored on his first start for Fulham as Marco Silva’s side beat Norwich City to reach the Carabao Cup fourth round.

The Nigeria midfielder finished off a fine team move in the second half after Carlos Vinicius’ first-half opener at Craven Cottage.

Norwich had more shots on target and reduced the deficit through a debut strike from Borja Sainz, but the Championship side could not find a goal to take the tie to penalties.

Vinicius put Fulham ahead on 12 minutes with a close-range finish from Willian’s free-kick for his second goal in three games.

The Brazilian almost doubled the lead for Silva’s side just before the break, but his first-time finish from Fode Ballo-Toure’s pass was dragged just wide.