Author: Amina Ibrahim

THE Supreme Court on Friday ordered that old N200, N500, N1,000 notes remain in circulation till December 31, 2023. The apex court also nullified the Federal Government’s naira redesign olicy, declaring it as an affront to the 1999 Constitution. The Supreme Court delivered judgement in the suit brought against the Federal Government on the naira redesign policy. Sixteen states of the Federation instituted the suit to challenge the legality or otherwise of the introduction of the policy. The suit initially instituted by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states has been slated as the first case on the cause list for final…

THE Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party presidential candidates, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi respectively have approached to Presidential Election Court to seek permission for the inspection of election materials used during last Saturday’s poll. News Point Nigeria reports that Atiku and Obi refused to concede defeat in the February 25 presidential election, vowing to recover their mandate in court. The two candidates rebuffed the gesture of conciliation made by the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, who in his acceptance speech after he was declared the winner of the poll on Wednesday, asked them to support him in the task of…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will conduct supplementary polls after the governorship and state house of assembly elections. Guber and assembly elections will take place next weekend, two weeks after the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly polls. “The Commission is aware that in some Senatorial Districts and Federal Constituencies, Declarations and Returns were not made. The Commission is compiling the list of the affected constituencies,” INEC’s National Commissioner Festus Okoye said in a Thursday statement. “A date for supplementary elections will be fixed after the Governorship and State Assembly elections.” The electoral umpire also expressed…

ATIKU Abubakar says he is open to an alliance with the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi.  The PDP presidential candidate for the 2023 elections made the comment during a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, a day after Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared as the winner of Saturday’s exercise. While the PDP and LP have rejected the outcome of the poll, Atiku, who ran alongside Obi in the 2019 election, says he is open to working with the former Anambra State governor. “So, as far as I am concerned, Peter is welcome to…

THE Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, up on the claim that he won last Saturday’s presidential election, accusing him of attempting to delegitimize the mandate given to its candidate, Bola Tinubu. Tinubu was declared the winner by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday with 8,794,726 votes. INEC said Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 6,984,520 votes while Obi came third with 6,101,533 votes. Reacting to the result declared by INEC in a press briefing on Thursday, Obi claimed that…

THE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that prices of food items such as yam, rice and beef witnessed an increase in January. This is contained in NBS Selected Food Prices Watch Report for January 2023 released in Abuja on Thursday. The report said the average price of 1kg beef boneless on a year-on-year basis, increased by 29.72 per cent from N1, 864.70 in January 2022 to N2,418.91 in January 2023. “On a month-on-month basis, 1kg beef boneless increased by 1.75 per cent from N2,377.29 recorded in December 2022.” The report showed that the average price of 1kg rice (local,…

THE People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in Kaduna State intends to seek for alliance with the Labour Party (LP) ahead of the Governorship election scheduled for March 11, 2023. Chairman of the PDP in Kaduna State and former Minister, Felix Hassan Hyet said at a press conference that the people of Kaduna were tired and had suffered so much under the All Progressives Congress (APC) and had decided to vote for the PDP. “The people have spoken by coming out enmasse to vote for our party and our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. We appreciate the love shown to us. Honestly, we…

THE United States on Wednesday congratulated Nigeria on the election of ruling party presidential candidate Bola Tinubu while calling for calm amid accusations of voter fraud and concerns over technical glitches. Tinubu was declared the winner Tuesday of the February 25 polls in Africa’s most populous democracy. “The United States congratulates the people of Nigeria, president-elect Tinubu and all the political leaders,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. “This competitive election represents a new period for Nigerian politics and democracy,” he added. According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, Tinubu, the candidate for the ruling All Progressives Congress, won 8.8…

FORMER Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida has congratulated the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu over his election as the 16th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria saying a new dawn has come to Nigeria with his emergence as President-elect. In a statement issued by his media office in Minna yesterday, IBB also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for modifying an election which he said would lead to a new Nigeria just as he commended Nigerians for going out en masse to exercise their voting rights and electing someone like Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the next…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission on Wednesday presented the certificate of return to the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu. News Point Nigeria reports that, the certificate was presented to Tinubu by the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, the nation’s capital. His running mate Kashim Shettima also got his certificate of return at the event. The presentation came a few hours after Tinubu was declared the winner of the Saturday, February 25 poll, garnering 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, who scored 6,984,520. Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) flagbearer,…

THE Senate has congratulated the All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Mr Bola Tinubu on his victory in the just concluded 2023 presidential elections. After a keenly contested race, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the February 25 presidential election. He polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, who scored 6,984,520. News Point Nigeria reports that, during plenary, the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, described Tinubu’s victory as historic. He urged all lawmakers to be in attendance for the issuing of the Certificate…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission has disclosed that it will present the certificate of return to the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, and vice president-elect, Kashim Shettima, on Wednesday. News Point Nigeria reports that the electoral umpire declared the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Tinubu, as the President-elect during the early hours of Wednesday. Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, was declared the president-elect after he polled 8,794,726 votes to win the 2023 presidential election. The INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, announced Tinubu as the winner at the International Collation Centre in Abuja. Declaring Tinubu as the winner, the INEC boss said,…

IRETI Heeba Kingibe of Labor Party has been declared winner of Saturday’s senatorial election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Heeba defeated incumbent Senator Philip Aduda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who was elected into the senate in 2011. The returning officer, Professor Sani Saka, said she polled 202,175 votes to defeat Aduda who secured 100, 544 votes. All Progressives Congress’s Zakari Angulu got 78, 905.

PROFESSOR Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said the call for his resignation by the Labour Party (LP) and the People’s Democratic Democratic Party (PDP) is misplaced. News Point Nigeria had reported how some parties said they had lost confidence in the ongoing election process over the non-use of electronic transmission of results as stipulated by the Electoral Act. At a briefing in Abuja, the opposition parties alleged that Saturday’s elections had been manipulated. But responding through Rotimi Oyekanmi, his Chief Press Secretary, the INEC Chairman, said contrary to the insinuation by both parties, results…

THE All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) on Tuesday slammed opposition parties over their calls for the cancellation of the February 25 presidential election. At a briefing on Tuesday, a Media Adviser of the APC PCC, Dele Alake knocked the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for calling for the cancellation of the election, saying it will be tantamount to an “abortion of democracy”. Alake said the presidential candidates of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar and his LP counterpart, Peter Obi to “accept defeat honourably”. “This election has already been won by our candidate, according to…

THE Senate experienced a rowdy session over the collation of the results of the presidential and National Assembly 2023 election. News Point Nigeria reports that, the Senator representing the Kwara Central, Ibrahim Oloriegbe, citing Orders 41 and 51 presented a motion on the need to call for calm and appeal to political parties, stakeholders and Nigerians to abide by the rule of law on the election process in the just concluded election. He was backed by other senators in the All Progressives Congress, stating that it was very important for the highest legislative body to be involved to bring calm…

THE Federal Government has urged former President Olusegun Obasanjo not to truncate the 2023 general elections with his allegedly inciting, self-serving and provocative letter on the polls.The Federal Government has urged former President Olusegun Obasanjo not to truncate the 2023 general elections with his allegedly inciting, self-serving and provocative letter on the polls. In a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said what the former President “cunningly” framed as an “appeal for caution and rectification” was nothing but a calculated attempt to undermine the electoral process and a wilful incitement to violence.…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has moved the collation of results for the 2023 presidential election by some hours. The collation of results from the state started on Sunday at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja. Monday’s collation had ended a few minutes past 10 pm. Mahmood Yakubu, INEC National Chairman, had adjourned the collation to 11am on Tuesday to enable the state collation officers for the presidential election (SCOPs) in the remaining states. But addressing newsmen on Tuesday, Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner, explained that though results from five states were available, the commission expects at least…

SENATOR Adamu Aliero has been declared the winner of the Kebbi Central Senatorial District election at the expense of Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State. Announcing the result in Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State capital, the Returning Officer Professor Abbas Yusuf Bazata declared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator Adamu Aliero winner having scored 126,588 votes against Governor Bagudu, the Chairman All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors’ Forum, who scored 92,389 votes. Similarly, a political debutant Garba Musa Maidoki of the PDP has defeated the incumbent Senator Bala Na’allah of the ruling party APC and who was seeking the fifth term in…

THE collation centre at ICC is currently besieged by a small crowd of young people protesting the results as the presidential election results are still being counted. News Point Nigeria reports that, in order to voice their discontent with the election results, the demonstrators, who are primarily young people, stormed the national collation center, the International Conference Centre, ICC, in Abuja. The youths criticized the way the presidential election was conducted, under the leadership of activist Moses Ogidi-Paul. The demonstrators held placards that said, among other things,“BeingbackIREV, no IREV no collation,” “Nigeria not for sale, we fight for justice,” “INEC…