Author: Eileen Peters

RIVERS State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara has expressed surprise at the actions of the police in allegedly attempting to invade the premises of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to disrupt the planned Local Government election on Saturday. Speaking during a media briefing at the government house in Port Harcourt, Governor Fubara on Friday, said the move was surprising because he had previously received information indicating that the police intended to withdraw from the local government elections. He questioned why Rivers State is being singled out, especially with what he described as an undue focus on an electoral body that…

SECURITY operatives in Rivers State, on Friday, foiled an attempt by men dressed in police uniform to take over the office of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission. The incident reportedly occurred around 1am on Friday (today). It was gathered that the miscreants attempted to scale through the gates and strong room of the commission to cart away sensitive electoral materials meant for the conduct of Saturday’s local government election in the state. A source who witnessed the incident but was not authorised to speak on the matter said, “The move was botched when vigilant security officials alerted principal officers…

THE Rivers Governor, Siminalyi Fubara, has regretted that his party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), will not be taking part in the October 5 Local Government Election in the state. Governor Fubara stated this on Thursday during a meeting with some stakeholders of the party at the Rivers State Government House in Port Harcourt. He said the election has to be held on Saturday to comply with the three months of grace given by the Federal Government to begin the implementation of the Supreme Court judgement on local government autonomy. “You know this election, I am the greatest loser because…

AN ENERGY Company, H-PTP Energy Services Limited has dismissed claims by some groups under the handle of the Integrity Group alleging it is involved in economic sabotage because of delayed payments to its subcontractors. The CSOs had through a publication, alleged that the delayed payments were an economic sabotage, urging the presidency and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to intervene In a rejoinder, H-PTP Energy Services clarified that it has yet to receive the outstanding payments for the project it handled due to disputes with the project owner, adding that it is working hard to resolve the said…

RIVERS State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has declared Thursday, October 3 and Friday, October 4, 2024 as public holidays to enable residents of the state to travel to their various communities to fully participate in the Saturday, October 5, Local Government elections. The governor also announced strict restrictions on vehicular movement of residents from midnight on Friday, October 4 to 5pm on Election Day. He made the declarations in a statewide broadcast to the people of the State at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Wednesday. The full text of the broadcast reads, “My dear people of Rivers State,…

SOME members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State on Wednesday staged a protest at the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Benin City, the state capital. The party supporters, who wielded placards and PDP insignia, called on the electoral umpire to reverse the results of the September 21, 2024 governorship election in the state announced a day after the poll. The protesters insisted that PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, won the election; and not Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC). INEC had declared Okpebholo the winner of the poll. The APC candidate, 54,…

THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has again failed to begin fuel production at the Port Harcourt refinery in Rivers State. This is despite the refinery failing to commence operations after about six postponements as of August 2024. This newspaper observed that promises made to Nigerians by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and NNPC about the refinery have continued to hit brick walls. After the failure of the early August promise, the Chief Financial Officer of the NNPC, Umar Ajiya, said the Port Harcourt refinery will commence operations in September 2024. Speaking to journalists in August, Ajiya had said…

THUGS on Tuesday took over the protest ground used during the August #EndBadGovernance protest in Rumuokwuta, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.  The protest ground was earlier announced as the state’s convergence point for the “FearlessInOctober” demonstration against economic hardship in the country. However, cane-wielding hoodlums took over the ground, saying they didn’t want any protest in Rivers state. The thugs threatened they’d beat up any journalist who dared film them. Similar protests are being held in other parts of the country like Lagos and Abuja as Nigeria celebrates its 64th Independence Day Anniversary. The demonstrators want President Bola…

THERE is currently heavy security at the Edo State government house (Osadebe Avenue) following reports that Philip Shaibu is plotting to resume office as Deputy Governor. The Edo House of Assembly had impeached Shaibu at the height of his rift with Governor Godwin Obaseki. However, he challenged the impeachment in court, saying the lawmakers did not give him fair hearing. A Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice J. K. Omotosho had annulled the impeachment and ordered reinstatement of Shaibu, but the government failed to comply with the order, saying it had filed a stay of execution. When…

AHEAD of the October 5, 2024, local government election in Rivers State, an Abuja-based court has barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the 2023 voters’ register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC). This followed an order of a high court in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, has ordered RSIEC to conduct the forthcoming local government elections in the state, using the 2023 voters’ register. Justice I. Igwe of the High Court gave the order on September 4, 2024, in a case instituted by the Action People’s Party (APP) against the State Electoral umpire, the…

THE office of the deputy governor of Edo State, on Osadebe Avenue, Benin, the state capital, has been sealed off by stern-looking policemen who were spotted there on Sunday. The sealed office was the one Philip Shaibu was relocated outside the Government House in the height off his face off with Governor Godwin Obaseki. As of Sunday, the entry gate was closed while a machine gun mounted police truck with three policemen was parked in front of the gate. It was gathered that staff of the office were on Friday told to resume at the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented certificate of return to the winner of the Edo State Governorship election, Monday Okpebholo, of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The ceremony took place at the INEC headquarters in Abuja on Thursday. INEC declared Okpebholo winner of the Saturday, September 21 election after polling 291,667 votes to beat his closest contender, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 247,274 votes. Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) came a distant third in the race with 22,763 votes. Fourteen other candidates contested the seat but got less than the three…

JUSTICE Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has fixed October 31, to deliver a ruling as well as judgement in a suit seeking the sack of the Chairman of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chiedu Ebie, over the alleged wrongful appointment. Justice Abdulmalik fixed the date shortly after parties in the suit adopted their written addresses as their arguments for and against the originating summons. Some Niger Delta communities had sued President Bola Tinubu, for allegedly violating the NDDC Act by appointing Ebie as chairman of the commission’s board. The plaintiffs from Bayelsa and…

THE deputy governor of Edo state, Philip Shuaibu, has reacted to the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in last Saturday’s governorship. Speaking on Arise Television, Shuaibu said he feels vindicated with the outcome of the polls which saw the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, become the governor-elect of Edo state. “I feel vindicated and I thank God for it. I am water, I don’t have an enemy, unfortunately, those who decided that they are enemies, I have always prayed for them to live long and see how God’s miracle continues to work in my life,” he…

ADAMAWA State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, on Sunday condemned the outcome of the Edo State governorship election. On Saturday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Monday Okpebholo, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the September 21 governorship poll. But in a statement, Fintiri said he wept for Nigeria’s democracy, describing the exercise as shameful. “I weep for Nigeria’s democracy after witnessing the shameful Edo Gubernatorial poll. The APC’s desperate attempts to discredit me by falsely claiming I announced results won’t distract from the real issue. “I merely shared results from INEC’s Irev portal, as…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission has announced the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, as the winner of the Edo governorship election held on Saturday. The state Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Faruk Adamu Kuta, who is also a VC Federal at University of Technology, Minna. Niger State, announced the results on Sunday evening at INEC’s state collation centre in Benin, the state capital. He declared Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the election with 291,667, votes while Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party came a distant second with a total of 247,…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission has begun collation of the gubernatorial election results in Edo State.  The returning officer is Prof. Faruk Adamu Kuta, Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Minna. The commission earlier announced that it was set to commence state-levelled collation of the governorship election. This was revealed by the National Commissioner & Member Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna during a press conference on Sunday. INEC also said it had activated the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal to upload the polling unit results in earnest. The same results have also been collated from all the 192 Wards.…

DEPUTY Inspector-General of Police in charge of Edo election, Frank Mba, was probably enraged by the visit of Governor Godwin Obaseki to the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Benin, on Sunday morning. Accompanied by his security aides, Obaseki had walked into INEC office around 3am. The governor headed for office of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), where he held a closed door meeting. While there, some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) stormed INEC office in protest. Among the protesters were Ajibola Basiru, National Secretary of the APC, and Dennis Idahosa, running mate to Senator…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has uploaded over 88% of polling unit result sheets of Saturday’s Edo State Governorship Election on the commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV).  Out of the 4519 polling units, the electoral umpire has uploaded the result sheets of 3995 polling units on the portal as of 06:40 pm on Saturday. On Saturday, September 21, 2024, the people of Edo State in South-South Nigeria voted to elect a new governor to succeed the incumbent, Godwin Obaseki, whose constitutional eight-year double terms will end on November 12, 2024. Edo is one of the eight states where governorship…

AFTER months of campaigns and intrigues, voters in Edo State are casting their ballots in the governorship election.  The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had cleared 17 parties for the September 21st election as candidates battle to take over the reins of leadership from incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki. His tenure ends in November. Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Monday Okpebholo and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) are the major contenders for the battle. The election is taking place in 4,519 polling units across the 18 local government areas of Edo…