Author: Gloria Lamar Johnson

CONFUSION trails the judgement of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Kaduna State after reports emerged that the election has allegedly been declared inconclusive via zoom by the three-man panel led by Justice Victor Oviawe. An hour later, another report emerged that upheld Uba Sani’s victory as the duly elected governor of the state. According to the second report, delivering the judgement in a petition which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Isah Mohammed Ashiru, filed to challenge the victory of Governor Uba Sani, the panel held that Sani was duly elected. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)…

NO fewer than six people have been killed and four others injured after bandits attacked Takanai community in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The police authorities in Kaduna State are yet to confirm the incident, but the president of Atyap Community Development Association, Sam Achi told News Point Nigeria that the attack occurred on Tuesday night few metres away from a military checkpoint and close to Ungwan Juju, the village of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa. He said the bandits invaded the community at about 7pm and immediately opened fire on two houses, during…

GUNMEN have reportedly shot three students of the Isa Mustapha Agwai l Polytechnic in Lafia, Nasarawa State. It was gathered that the assailants also abducted one female student simply identified as Ajoke, an ND ll student of Science Laboratory Technology. This newspaper learnt that the incident occurred around 08:00pm on Monday. The students, who sustained gunshot injuries, were said to be receiving treatment at Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH), Lafia. The shot victims are Freedom Luka and Ogwuche Janet said to be students of HND l Public Administration and HND II Business Administration and Management respectively, as well as one…

BENUE State Commissioner of Information, Culture and Tourism, Matthew Abo, has been abducted by unknown gunmen. Abo was abducted from his residence at his hometown in Zaki-Biam community of Ukum Local Government Area of the state on Sunday night. The victim was sworn in as a member of the Benue State Executive Council on August 29th, 2023. He hails from Ukum local government area which has been a major flashpoint of criminal activities. Witnesses said the commissioner was abducted by gunmen who rode on four motorcycles to his house in Zaki-Biam, a rural town famous for being the largest yam…

THE Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi has upheld the election of Governor Hyacinth Alia of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The tribunal dismissed the petition of the Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate, Titus Uba, challenging the election held on the March 18 for lack of jurisdiction to entertain the matter. Chairman of the three man panel of justices, Justice Ibrahim Karaye, held that the tribunal has no jurisdiction to entertain the petition as the matter raised before the tribunal are pre-election issues as captured in section 285 of the Electoral Act. The tribunal hinged…

GUNMEN suspected to be kidnappers have abducted a medical doctor, Austin Uwumagbe, the Director of Victory Hospital-Annex at Ogaminana, Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State. This newspaper learnt that Dr Uwumagbe was last seen on Tuesday after he closed from work and headed home. A source from the hospital said that his abductors have reached out to his family, demanding a huge sum of money before he can regain his freedom. Kogi State Chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) confirmed the abduction of Dr Uwumagbe in a statement issued in Lokoja yesterday. A joint statement signed by the…

A 17-YEAR-OLD secondary school student, Terhemba Tyochivir, has reportedly committed suicide in Akpehe, a suburb of Makurdi metropolis in Benue State. The police spokeswoman for Benue command, SP. Catherine Anene, confirmed the incident to journalists in Makurdi on Friday. Tyochivir was said to be a student at Government Secondary School, Gboko, until on Thursday when he took his own life. But the details surrounding the tragedy which was reported at the E Division Police Station in Makurdi remained unclear. Witnesses said that the late Tyochivir after he was discovered lifeless was swiftly transported to Bishop Murray Hospital Makurdi, where medical…

THE Governorship Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Jos in North Central Nigeria has upheld the election of Governor Caleb Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).  The three-member panel, in its judgment delivered on Friday,  unanimously held that the petitioner failed in its petition because it lacked merit. Justice Sunday Olorundahunsi, reading the judgment, dismissed all three grounds canvassed by the petitioner and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda. On March 20, the INEC Returning Officer in the state, Prof Idris Amali, announced Mutfwang as the winner having scored 525,299 votes, while Yilwatda polled 481,370 votes.…

GUNMEN suspected to be kidnappers on Sunday hijacked a Benue Links bus travelling along Otukpo-Ugbokolo road in Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State. Our correspondent reports that the fresh abduction of passengers aboard Benue Links vehicle, the state owned transport company, makes it the second incident in just two weeks. Recall that two Lagos-bound Benue Links bus were also hijacked along Ajaokuta-Okene highway on Sunday, September 10, 2023 by suspected kidnappers. Secretary General of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (Benue Links chapter), Comrade Gabriel Tachia, told our correspondent on the telephone…

THE national and state houses of assembly elections petition tribunal sitting in Jos, the Plateau State capital has nullified the elections of four National Assembly members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over lack of structure. In a unanimous judgment of the three member panel, Justice Mohammed Tukur ruled that the PDP candidates in the state were invalidly nominated due to no party structure in the state. The lawmakers affected in the judgment so far are Peter Gyendeng representing Barkin-Ladi/Riyom Federal Constituency; Musa Bagos representing Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency; Beni Lar representing Langtang North/Langtang South Federal Constituency and Napoleon…

WORRIED by the recent spate of violence in Plateau State, the wife of the President, Oluremi Tinubu, on Tuesday donated N500m to 500 families. The beneficiaries were drawn from six local government areas of the North-Central state. Senator Tinubu was in Jos, the state capital, to commiserate with the victims, encouraging them not to lose hope as her husband and other stakeholders work to ensure enduring peace in the troubled communities. The First Lady expressed worry over the crisis that has bedevilled the State, particularly the Mangu people, explaining how concerned she is to learn about the destruction of lives…

A FORMER Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Yomi Awoniyi, has officially joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the November 11 governorship election in the state. Awoniyi, who expressed his admiration for Governor Yahaya Bello’s exemplary leadership, commitment to inclusivity, unity of purpose, and governance, was officially received into the APC at the party’s National Headquarters, on Tuesday, in Abuja. He served as deputy governor of Kogi State from 2011 to 2015 during Captain Idris Wada’s administration. The former PDP chieftain acknowledged the complexities and challenges of Kogi State politics and commended Governor Bello for exceeding expectations. “I…

ONE of the Ministers of President Bola Tinubu has been declared as winner of the February 25 Parliamentary election. Simon Lalong, former Plateau State governor, who was Director-General of Tinubu/Shettima Campaign, was among the seven governors declared as losers of senatorial elections. Tinubu had subsequently appointed him as Minister of Labour. But on Monday, the National and State Petition Election Tribunal sitting in Jos sacked the senator representing Plateau South, Napoleon Bali, and declared Lalong as winner. Bali contested the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while Lalong ran under the All Progressive Congress (APC). The…

THE Benue North-East Senatorial Election Petitions Tribunal has sacked Senator Emmanuel Udende of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and returned Senator Gabriel Suswam of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the senator-elect. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Udende as the winner of the Benue North-East senatorial election held on February 25. Suswam, a member of the 9th senate, had lost his bid to return to the upper chamber of the National Assembly. But he had headed for the court, arguing that Udende did not score majority of the lawful votes cast in the 25th February, 2023, Benue North…

THE Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday nullified the victory of Sen. Abubakar Ohere as the winner of the Kogi Central senatorial election. The court further declared Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan as the actual winner of the February senatorial election. The Tribunal Chairman, Justice K. A. Orjiako, who read the unanimous judgement of the three-man panel, said Ohere results were inflated in nine polling units of Ajaokuta Local Government Area (LGA) while that of Natasha was intentionally reduced in the areas by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as well as three other polling units result that was deliberately not entered…

GUNMEN suspected to be kidnappers have opened fire on two commercial buses and abducted scores of the passengers near Ochonyi village, along the Abuja-Lokoja highway. One of the passengers of the buses, who escaped while being led into the bush, Shedrack Jonathan, said he boarded the bus at Jabi in Abuja, travelling to Enugu, and that they ran into the gunmen. He said the incident happened around 7:33pm after Omoko village, last Thursday, while descending a sloppy part of the road, adding that they started hearing gunshots and the bus suddenly veered off the road into the bush. He added…

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has decried its inability to secure convictions in corruption cases, including high-profile ones. The spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujiaren, in an interview with journalists in Kaduna State, highlighted some of the challenges impeding the speedy prosecution of corruption cases and securing convictions. According to him, the losses are due to what he described as frivolous court judgements based on technicalities rather than the facts and national interest, as well as arbitrary adjournment of corruption cases by courts, among other factors. Uwajaren, who shared the insight at a one-day workshop for media practitioners…

THE Plateau State Police Command says its personnel intercepted a heavy-duty truck transporting assorted drinks and over 100 bags packed with what appeared to be Cannabis sativa. The Commissioner of Police, Okoro Julius Alawari, disclosed this on Friday while speaking to journalists at the state police headquarters in Jos. Alawari stated that a team of personnel on patrol during a stop-and-search exercise along Kwata Road in the Jos South Local Government Area (LGA) discovered the exhibits hidden behind the drinks inside the truck. The patrol unit of the command reportedly received intelligence of a truck offloading a consignment suspected to…

THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has warned Nigerians to prepare for the massive flood in the coming days as Cameroon is expected to open Lagdo Dam situated on Benue River. NEMA revealed this in a recent statement signed by the Director, African Affairs, Ambassador Umar Salisu. The agency affirmed that both Nigeria and Cameroon are to experience flooding, as Lagdo Dam authorities, will release modulated variable small amount of water. It, therefore, called on stakeholder organisations to sensitise the people, so as to engage in activities that will mitigate the flood. “I have the honour to inform that the…

GUNMEN have kidnapped the Organising Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna State, Kawu Yakasai. He was kidnapped from his village in the Soba Local Government Area at about 9pm on Friday. As of press time, the kidnappers were yet to establish any contact with the family of the victim or the Kaduna State APC leadership. Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has condemned the abduction of the APC official. The governor, in a short statement through his Chief Press Secretary, Mohammed Shehu, directed security agencies to go after the kidnappers and ensure the safe return of…