Tribunal sacks Imo PDP Reps member, Ugochinyere

The Imo State National and State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, on Sunday, sacked a member of the House of Representatives, Ikenga Ugochinyere, for being an invalid candidate to contest the Ideato North/South Federal Constituency election.

Ugochinyere, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, was announced as the winner with 13, 026 votes. in the February 25 election, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The candidate of the Labour Party, Chigozie, came second with 5,696 votes, while the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Abazu Benson. came third with 2, 368 votes.

Expressing his dissatisfaction with the outcome of the election, the APC candidate filed a petition before the tribunal, marked: EPT/IM/HR/10/2023, where INEC, Ugochinyere, PDP, candidate of the Labour Party, Obi Paschal Chigozie and his party, the LP; were cited as the 1st to 5th respondents.

The petitioner maintained that Ugochinyere was not qualified to participate in the House of Reps contest, and also argued that all the votes that were credited to the PDP candidate were wasted votes.

He also noted that contrary to the provision of the Electoral Act, the PDP, conducted its primary election in a venue that was outside the constituency.

Tinubu, Biden meet at G20 sidelines

President Bola Tinubu and US President Joe Biden have met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India.

The Sunday meeting, which took place, was confirmed by a White House readout on the engagement posted on the US Mission in Nigeria X handle.

The statement informed that Biden noted that the occasion was to “reinforce our enduring commitment to the U.S.-Nigeria relationship and to the longstanding friendship between our two countries and peoples.”

President Biden welcomed the Tinubu Administration’s steps to reform Nigeria’s economy and thanked him for his “strong leadership as the chair of the Economic Community of West African States to defend and preserve democracy and the rule of law in Niger and the broader region.”

The statement affirmed that Nigeria’s invitation to the G20 Summit is a recognition of Nigeria’s important global role as Africa’s largest democracy and economy.

Nigerians want changes to happen quickly – Abdulsalami

A former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalalmi Abubakar, on Saturday, congratulated the administration of President Bola Tinubu for clocking 100 days in office with a charge on Nigerians to join hands with the government to overcome the challenges of fuel subsidy and insecurity inherited from former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The elder statesman who said “Nigerians as a people want changes to happen quickly”, also congratulated the Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris on his appointment, describing the information portfolio as a very tough job.

A statement by the Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations in the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, Suleiman Haruna, said Abdulsalalmi stated these during a grand reception organised by the Niger State Government to honour political gladiators from the state, including the minister.

At the event, the minister assured Nigerians that the current administration would continue to develop policies that promote national values and orientation among the citizens.

“The information portfolio is a tough job, having to market the image of government at a difficult time. I do not, however, doubt your capabilities, considering your media background, I’m sure you will do well.”

’24 people killed’ in Niger state in yet another boat mishap

At least 24 persons have died after a boat capsized in Gbajibo, Mokwa area of Niger state, on Sunday.

Garba Salihu, director-general of the Niger state emergency management agency, confirmed the incident to TheCable.

According to Salihu, the boat was conveying over 100 passengers to their farms when it capsized.

He said rescue operations have commenced and so far, 24 corpses have been recovered while at least 30 persons were rescued.

“We are in receipt of that information and currently, we are conducting a search and rescue operation, including a recovery operation in that area. The incident happened this morning at about 7:30 am in Gbajibo community, between Kanji and Jaba dam,” Salihu told TheCable in a telephone conversation.

“It is not yet clear how many people were on board but information has it that we had over 100 people on board because they were on their way to their farm. So far, about 24 corpses have been recovered, and over 3o have also been rescued. The rescue operation is still ongoing and we expect to get more survivors and more corpses.”

Just4Gist (
)