Author: straightnewsng.com

The Federal Government has declared Friday, February 22 as work-free day preparatory for presidential/National Assembly elections on Saturday, February 23. The Ministry of Interior in a statement, Wednesday, however, excluded bankers and those offering essential services across the nation. “The work-free day is to enable citizens to return to their poling units for the re-scheduled Presidential and National Assembly elections. “Security agencies have been directed to ensure safety of lives and property before, during and after the general election.” Some states and businesses across the federation had initially declared holiday for members of staff on February 15, in anticipation of…

Ahead of the March 9, 2019 election, 45 candidates of different political parties in Akwa Ibom State are angling to occupy Hiltop Mansion, Uyo, Straightnews has gathered. This shows that 46 of the 91 registered political parties in the country failed to purchase governorship forms and perhaps return same. Straightnews learnt that only All Progressives Congress, APC and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state have fielded candidates for all the positions. Apart, they are the two major political parties that campaigned in the 31 local government areas. While Governor Udom Emmanuel under the opposition PDP in the state is…

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has accused the Presidency of releasing more than N6 billion looted from federal funds to All Progressives Congress, APC, National Assembly candidates to execute the party’s alleged rigging plans in the February 23 Presidential and National Assembly elections. The party said information available to it revealed that “Each of the 109 APC Senatorial candidates got N20 million, the 360 APC House of Representatives candidates were given N10 million each, while various amounts were disbursed by the Presidency to some other APC leaders for the rigging plot.” The party also urged Nigerians to be alert and…

The African Bar Association, ABFA, has condemned the killing of citizen Godwin by men of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, around Sagamu area, Ogun State on February 17, 2019. Chairman, Justice Sector Reform Commission, ABFA, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, in a statement, Tuesday, said “In the video of the shooting that trended on the social media, the lifeless body of the deceased could be seen on the ground, with blood around the neck areas.” In its official response, the Customs Service claimed to be preventing anti-smuggling, leading to accidental discharge. It claimed that the victim was an errand boy who served…

Appeal Court, sitting in Ilorin, Tuesday, upturned the ruling of Kwara State High Court which pronounced Ishola Balogun-Fulani as the authentic party chairman in the state. The Ibrahim Saulawa led three-man panel said the high court ruling was built on nothing as the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the Balogun-Fulani’s case challenging his dismissal as the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chairman in the state. Having last week ruled in an interlocutory appeal that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear Balogun-Fulani’s case, the appeal court allowed the APC’s main appeal but dismissed the ‘sister appeal’ by Bolarinwa because it amounted to…

The Middle Belt Forum, MBF, Tuesday, pledged support to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for exhibiting the intellectual and mental capacity as well as the vitality to address the security challenges in the Middle Belt and the entire nation. The MBF members said the stand of the PDP candidate on the issue of restructuring the country was a major factor that influenced their decision. Addressing the media in Makurdi, President of the MBF, Dr. Pogu Bitrus observed that the PDP candidate gained the confidence of groups like the Pan Niger Delta Development Forum, PANDEF,…

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday waded into the All Progressives Congress, APC, crisis in Zamfara State. The APC in Zamfara State has been embroiled in a dispute over the party’s primaries in the state, which has led to uncertainties about the participation of the party’s candidates in governorship, national assembly and state assembly elections. One of the principal actors and APC governorship aspirant Senator Kabir Marafa, met with Prof. Osinbajo behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting, Senator Marafa who represents Zamfara Central Senatorial District and Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum…

Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, Tuesday, said the death toll in Kajuru Local Government Area of state has risen from 66 to 130. The governor also said he had applied for the presence of armed security men to be deployed to flash points in the state to ensure adequate security in the forthcoming elections. Meantime, the state Commissioner of Police, CP Ahmed Abdulrahman, has said 11 persons have been arrested for the killings in Kujuru and will be arraigned in court on Wednesday. These came as Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum has called on el-Rufai to stop inciting…

Akwa Ibom State joined eight other oil producing states in the country to share N45.36 billion as 13 per cent derivation fund in January 2019, National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, reported. According to InfoGuide NIGERIA “Akwa Ibom produces 504,000 bpd; Delta-346,000 bpd; Rivers-344,000 bpd; Bayelsa-290,000 bpd; Ondo- 60,000 bpd, Lagos- 40,000 bpd, Edo- 33,000; Imo-17,000 bpd and Abia-11,000 bpd.” Oil wells in Cross River State were ceded to Akwa Ibom State during the ex-Governor Godswill Akpabio administration after a prolonged court case. This was after Federal Government had handed over Bakassi to Cameroon. The NBS, which stated this in FAAC…

The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Monday, raised an alarm over the missing Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) result sheets for Enugu West Senatorial District during last Saturday’s botched presidential and National Assembly elections. This was even as he called on Nigerians not to despair over the postponement, but strengthen their resolve to improve their lives through the ballot box. Ekweremadu spoke during the town hall meetings he organised across the local government areas in his senatorial district, to gauge the pulse of the people and sensitise them on the need to participate in the rescheduled dates…