Author: Maryam Garba

CANDIDATE of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Chanchaga Federal Constituency of Niger State, Abubakar Abdul Buba has defeated the APC Candidate, Abubakar Adamu, younger brother to the former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, in the just concluded National Assembly elections in the state. Announcing the House of Representatives election results at the former Education Resource Centre, Minna, the State Capital, Professor Mercy Modupe Adeyeye, said Buba of the PDP scored a total of 35,688 votes while Ado Salami of the APC scored 19, 282. Candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, Ibrahim Abdulaziz, scored 1, 747 while the…

THE All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, has promised to review some policies of the incumbent administration that the people consider unfavourable. Speaking at the governorship debate organised by BBC Hausa in Kaduna, on Wednesday, Sani said being human, Governor Nasir El-Rufai is bound to make certain mistakes. He admitted that there could have been some errors with El-Rufai’s policies in the areas of education and human development. However, he made it clear that he would continue with the good policies of the governor. “I will surely look at some of the policies and…

THE Labour Party candidate for House of Representatives, Kaura Federal Constituency, Kaduna state, Mr Mathew Donatus Kozali, has defeated the Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, Gideon Lucas Gwani. Koazali polled 10,508 voted ahead of Gwani, who polled 10,297 votes. A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Gwani was seeking to occupy the seat for the fifth time. Announcing the result at Kaura Local Government Secretariat in southern part of Kaduna state, the Returning Officer, Professor Elija D. Ella, declared that Mr. Mathew Donatus Kuzai as the winner, while Professor Benjamin Kumai Gugong of APC came third with 9, 919 votes.

PRESIDENTIAL candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has asked the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu to instruct the Collation Officers for yesterday’s election to upload the results to the INEC server immediately. In a statement by his media aide on Sunday, Atiku said this has become necessary to checkmate some governors who are trying to compromise the results at the local government collation level. “It will be a disservice to Nigerians and a negation to democracy for anyone to subvert the will of the people as freely expressed in their votes…

SOME voters at Polling Unit 084 in Rushari Rhakubu in the Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State on Saturday night held officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) hostage over faulty Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines.  Polling officials were held hostage until Sunday morning and let go with the intervention of the Electoral Officer of Jos North, Fred Ogboji who came in the company of a Registration Area Technical officer to attend to the malfunctioning BVAS. The presidential and National Assembly elections were suspended at the polling unit on Saturday night when voting could not continue…

THE People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has won at one of the major polling units inside the Kaduna State Government House. Atiku defeated the Ruling Party’s presidential candidate Tinubu at the polling 013. The result signed by the presiding officer, Kalu kelechi Micheal, showed that the APC scored 40, Labour party scored 48, PDP 69, while NNPP had 11. Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna is one of the lead campaigners of Tinubu.

DATTI Baba-Ahmed, the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, has lost his polling unit to Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In polling unit 021 situated at Tudun Wada ward, in Zaria LGA of Kaduna state, the total number of accredited voters was 272. PDP secured 102 votes to win the polling unit, followed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) with 98 votes. The LP came third with 54 votes, while the NNPP secured 11 votes.

THE National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Abdullahi Adamu has lost his polling unit, Angwarimi Ward, GRA A1, LERCEST Office in Keffi, Nasarawa State, for the presidential polls to the Labour Party. The Labour Party’s Peter Obi won in the unit with 132 votes while the APC came second with 85 votes. For the other positions: Senatorial – APC (55), PDP (22), LP (42), NNPP (4), SDP (184), ADC (1), ZLP (3), while invalid votes were seven (7). House of Representatives: APC (46), PDP (41), LP (30), NNPP (4), AA (21), SDP (159), ADC (2), APGA (1),…

KADUNA State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai on Saturday cast his vote at the Ungwan Sariki Polling Unit in the Kaduna North Local Government Area. News Point Nigeria reports that, speaking to journalists after voting, El-Rufai decried the low turnout of voters in many polling units across Kaduna. Warning that voter apathy could affect the electorate from electing credible leaders who will lead them for the next four years, the governor called on all eligible voters to come out and exercise their franchise. El-Rufai also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the new improvement in the electoral process. “I must…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it recorded a 93.3 per cent Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collection rate ahead of the February 25th Presidential and National Assembly elections. According to INEC 87, 209,007 PVCs have so far been collected ahead of the upcoming. There are a total of 6,259,229 uncollected PVCs. In giving details regarding the PVC collection, INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu on Thursday said the current voter register has over 94 million voters, but the Commission will continue to clean up the register using technology available. A breakdown of the figure showed that Lagos leads in the number…

THE Defence Headquarters says troops of Operation Whirl Punch have apprehended one of the masterminds of the March 28, 2022 terrorist attack on the Abuja-Kaduna Train service. The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Musa Danmadami, made this known at the bi-weekly news briefing on the operations of the armed forces, on Thursday in Abuja. Danmadami said the suspect was one of the three terrorists apprehended by the troops at Damba community in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Feb. 14. He said the operation led to the recovery of two motorcycles, mobile phones, the sum of 5,000 dollars, other…

THE Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami on Thursday said the fate of  governors and other individuals being investigated for alleged treasonable utterances over the naira redesign will be determined by the security agencies. He said this while responding to questions from State House reporters while featuring at the Media Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Some governors such as Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State and Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state had picked holes in the implementation of the currency redesign policy and asked their citizens not to…

LESS than seventy-two hours before the commencement of the 2023 general elections, the Department of State Services (DSS) has busted criminal hideouts and recovered dangerous weapons in various locations across the country including in a property along the airport road in Nasarawa Local Government Area of Kano state. The DSS Public Relations Officer, Dr Peter Afunanya confirmed this in a statement on Thursday in which he debunked allegations that the agency’s operations in Kano State were targeted at a political party. Items recovered from the said property in Kano State include a gun, daggers, swords, and jack-knives among others. Similarly,…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has started the distribution of sensitive materials for Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.  Items distributed include the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the result sheets as well as the ballot papers from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The distribution, which is still ongoing across the country, was witnessed by all security agencies including the paramilitary; Police, Army, and representatives of political parties participating in the polls. The security agencies have promised to be fair and professional in the discharge of their election duties. See photos of the distribution of sensitive materials from various…

THE Federal High Court of Nigeria will begin a five-day break from Wednesday in view of Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections The Chief Judge of the Court, Justice John Tsoho directed the court’s justices to sit up till Wednesday, February 22 before proceeding on the break. They are to resume on Tuesday, February 28 – three days after the polls. The break will allow the judges to vote in the elections scheduled to elect the President and Vice President and members of the Senate and House of Representatives. There will also be elections for state governors and state houses…

SENATOR Orji Kalu on Monday lamented the scarcity of the naira owing to the currency redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He claims his family could not get enough money to cook recently. “You can see the policy is right but I don’t keep money in my house. I am suffering,” he said during his appearance on Channels Television’s election programme The 2023 Verdict monitored by News Point Nigeria. “The other day, my house manager told my wife in Abuja that we have no money to cook food. My wife was virtually roaming around and we feed…

THE Police Service Commission has replaced the former Director of the Civil Society directorate of the Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hajiya Naja’atu Muhammad, as one of the coordinators that will supervise conduct of police officers during general forthcoming elections. Her removal came barely five hours after the ruling APC protested her inclusion among 45 coordinators who will monitor the conduct of the police officers on election duty. New Point Nigeria had reported that the Commission assigned Muhammad as one of the coordinators who would supervise the conduct of police officers’ affairs, but the Director Public…

AHEAD of the February 25 presidential poll, a spokesman for the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and the presidential campaign of the party, Ladipo Johnson has said that the party’s flag bearer, Rabiu Kwankwaso, will get 25% of votes in 24 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. He spoke Monday on The 2023 Verdict, Channels Television’s special election programme, monitored by News Point Nigeria. The chieftain further said there is nothing wrong with the ‘cult-like following’ of Kwankwaso and expressed optimism that his candidate would get 25% of votes in at least two-thirds of all the states in the…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission has expressed hope that its cash request presented to the Central Bank of Nigeria would be met on or before Tuesday. INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Committee on Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, disclosed this to our correspondent on Sunday. The commission had earlier said it presented its cash requirement for prosecuting the forthcoming elections to the CBN, in face of shortage or scarcity of naira notes in circulation. The commission had explained that even though it does most of its payments through online transfers, some specific services have to be paid…

– Lagos tops figure with 928,951; Oyo-800,000, Kano-468,314 NO fewer than 4,175,006 registered voters in 10 states will not vote in the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections. Reason: They were not able to collect their Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, before the February 5 deadline to do so. ended on Among the 10 states whose data on the number of PVCs collected and unclaimed were ready at the weekend, Lagos came tops with 928,951 unclaimed PVCs. Lagos is followed by Oyo, which has about 800,000 uncollected PVCs; Kano (468,314), and Ogun (412,086).…