World News Delight

INEC has said that from the initial assessment of today’s fire incident in Anambra, a total of 4695 smart card readers were destroyed.  Spokesman for the commission, Festus Okoye who disclosed the information, assured that immediate measures to ameliorate the situation including the mopping up of some spare card readers from other states are already in progress. He added that with the steps taken so far, the commission remains confident that elections in the state will proceed as scheduled. Below is a full statement by the electoral umpire.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari, have arrived at the International Conference Center in Abuja for the second signing of the National Peace Accord. Also in attendance is the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Patricia Scotland; former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd); Bishop Mathew Kukah, as well as other members of the National Peace Committee (NPC). Shortly after the arrival of the presidential candidates and others, General Abubakar called on political parties to function as effective actors for peace before, during, and after the elections. He also appealed to them to adopt a code of conduct that would promote a peaceful process devoid of rigging. The former Head of State, who is also the Chairman of the NPC, asked the candidates to use the remaining days left to speak directly to voters and supporters, pleading with

Justice Umar Danladi Justice Walter Onnoghen The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has issued a bench warrant ordering arrest and subsequent arraignment of the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen. CCT Chairman, Justice Danladi Umar, issued the warrant to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to arrest Justice Onnoghen and bring him to the Tribunal unfailingly on Friday. He gave the order on Wednesday and directed the Director of the Department of State Services (DSS) to join in arresting the suspended CJN and compel him to be at the Tribunal.

The Nigerian Air Force has commenced the airlift of electoral materials for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) across the country ahead of the general elections. The exercise which started on Monday, February 11, 2019, is to be carried out both day and night with NAF C-130 Hercules aircraft from the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja to various airports across the country. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, explained that both sensitive and non-sensitive electoral materials were being conveyed in batches. “The materials were duly delivered by the C-130H aircraft crew to teams of INEC and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) officials together with security personnel waiting at the various airports,” he explained in the statement. According to Daramola, this was in keeping with the promise by the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, during his meetin

The Supreme Court on Monday, struck out three appeals filed by the two Rivers APC factions challenging a High Court ruling that barred INEC from recognising APC candidates for Rivers elections. A five-man panel led by Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour on Tuesday,  struck out the three remaining appeals filed by the APC, Ojukaye Flag-Amachree and Tonye Patrick Cole, challenging the court’s decision. According to the court, the appeals were filed outside the time allowed under Section 285(9) and (12) of the Constitution as amended by the 4th Alteration Act. Justice Amina Augie who read the ruling of the court, said the appellants were not parties to the original suit and were not allowed by the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt to appeal the October 10, 2018 judgment, because they filed their appeal out of the required time. Augie noted that the appeals are statute-barred. The ruling comes as a major setback to Tonye Cole, who had expected the court to get INEC to official

President Muhammadu Buhari speaks during a meeting at the State House in Abuja. The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari for second term ahead of the presidential election scheduled to hold on Saturday. The forum announced its support for the President in a statement by its acting Chairman, Musa Kwande, on Tuesday. It noted that it carefully studied the antecedents of major presidential candidates, the manifestoes and policy documents of their parties, alongside the need for social, political and economic stability in the country. The ACF explained that this made it come to the conclusion that President Buhari deserved a second term to consolidate on his achievements. It added that its stand was informed by the strides taken by the Buhari administration to improve and reposition the nation economically. Some of the steps highlighted by the forum include the multi-billion Dollar Mambilla hydropower project, the exploration of oil in Gon