- Wike reveals candidates Rivers will not vote for
- Chatham House: Peter Obi did not share questions like APC Candidate – Ken Okonkwo
- DSS clears air on invading CBN, arresting Godwin Emefiele
- Gunmen attack INEC Enugu office again, kill policeman, injure another
- 2023 elections: Why we can’t allow temporary voters card, INEC tells court
Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn’t miss:
Wike reveals candidates Rivers will not vote for
According to Wike, Rivers residents won’t support candidates that despise the state.
He said the 2023 election was a fight to the finish at the State’s PDP’s local government campaign flag-off rally on Monday in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA).
“That is how you know those who love us,” said Wike, “that is how you know those who despise Rivers State.” We won’t cast our vote for you if you despise Rivers State.
“We will only give our vote to those who love Rivers State. You have to listen to your leaders through the DG (director general) of the campaign.
“They will come back to you, sit you down, and tell you where we are heading to. It is a fight to finish. Do not be afraid. We are going to win at the end of the day. You know that we have always won. We will continue to win.”
Chatham House: Peter Obi did not share questions like APC Candidate – Ken Okonkwo
Kenneth Okonkwo, the spokesman for Labour Party’s presidential campaign council, praised party presidential candidate Peter Obi for his presentation at the Chatham House in the United Kingdom.
At the Chatham House on Monday, Obi reportedly discussed his intentions for the country if he is elected president next month, joining other presidential contenders including All Progressives Congress flagbearer Bola Tinubu.
Kenneth Okonkwo, a well-known actor, responded to Obi’s presentation by saying that the former governor of Anambra had successfully portrayed Nigeria as the pride of the black race and the behemoth of Africa.
The actor who made this assertion on the Channels Television show Politics Today stated that Obi was so stingy at the Chatham House that he refused to let his allies answer questions on his behalf.
He said, “I’m so proud of my principal who was so stingy that he went to Chatham House and refuse to share questions; he was answering the questions, in contradiction to the generous APC candidate who went there and shared the questions for other people to answer.”
DSS clears air on invading CBN, arresting Godwin Emefiele
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor, Godwin Emefiele, was the subject of rumors that the Department of State Security Services, or DSS, had entered his office.
According to rumors, the CBN’s governor was going to be arrested when secret police agents broke into the building on Monday.
Peter Afunanya, the DSS spokesperson, released a brief statement in which he criticized the news as being false and deceptive.
The statement reads, “The attention of the Department of State Services (DSS) has been drawn to the false news making the round that its operatives invaded the Central Bank of Nigeria and arrested its Governor, today 16/1/23.
“This is fake news and quite misleading”.
Gunmen attack INEC Enugu office again, kill policeman, injure another
A police officer was killed and another was injured when gunmen attacked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), office in Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State on Sunday night.
INEC National Commissioner, Mr. Festus Okoye, who disclosed this in a statement, yesterday, said: “The Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, for Enugu State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Chukwu, has reported that our office in Enugu South LGA was attacked by gunmen. The incident occurred around 9.12 p.m., January 15, 2023.
“The security gatehouse was razed. Fortunately, the attackers could not gain access to the main building as a result of the rapid response from the police and army personnel from the 82 Division.
“The state Commissioner of Police and the REC were personally at the scene immediately after they received information about the attack. Of the two policemen deployed to protect the facility, one of them lost his life while the other sustained injuries and is receiving treatment.”
He said the incident was under investigation by security agencies, adding that the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, ICCES, in Enugu State, co-chaired by the REC and the Commissioner of Police, has been convened to discuss the latest incident and map out strategies to better protect INEC offices, personnel, and materials.
“Meanwhile, the destroyed gatehouse will be rebuilt, and the commission is proceeding with its preparations for the general election in Enugu State and the entire country as scheduled,” Okoye noted.
The incident is the latest in the series of assaults on INEC offices in the South-East.
2023 elections: Why we can’t allow temporary voters card, INEC tells court
The Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC, yesterday outlined why it would not permit registered voters who missed the deadline to obtain their Permanent Voters Cards, or PVCs, to vote in the upcoming general elections before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The electoral body maintained that the PVC was essential to its intended accreditation process while pleading with the court to reject a lawsuit that sought to compel it to permit those with temporary voters cards or proof of registration to cast ballots on election day. The electoral body’s legal team was led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr. Abdulaziz Sani.
For the upcoming elections, only those with PVCs properly authenticated with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, or BVAS would be permitted to cast their vote, according to INEC, unlike previous elections where it permitted eligible electorate who had issues with accreditation to vote after filling out the Incident Form.
The commission was responding to a lawsuit with the file number FHC/ABJ/CS/2348/2022, which claimed there was a scheme to deny nearly 20 million eligible voters in the nation their right to vote.
The claim was taken before the court by a non-governmental organization, under the aegis of the Incorporated Trustees of International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law, alongside two additional plaintiffs- Emmanuel Chukwuka and Bruno Okeahialam.
The plaintiffs informed the court that they brought the lawsuit on their own behalf as well as that of registered voters whose voting rights were about to be taken away by INEC in the general elections of 2023.
Through their attorney, Mr. Max Ozoaka, the Plaintiffs in the lawsuit in which INEC was the sole Defendant claimed that many registered voters would be denied the opportunity to cast their ballot due to a number of administrative bottlenecks and difficulties that are currently preventing the collection of PVCs throughout the federation.
However, INEC disputed the suit’s calabargistblogimacy in a counter-affidavit it submitted to the court, arguing that the legal action was premature, frivolous, and speculative.
The election commission informed the court that it had previously extended the window for collecting PVCs.
While accusing the plaintiffs of failing to provide the court with information about the 29 million people they claimed may be denied the right to vote, INEC claimed that the reason it extended the deadline for collecting PVC was that there were so many new ones available, particularly in the areas that had been attacked.
