Speaking during a Sunday sermon, the Senior Pastor of House on the Rock Church, Paul Adefarasin dismissed the idea of Nigeria being founded on God’s will, insisting that historical and colonial interests shaped its existence.
“Nigeria, I do not believe it was created by God. I don’t believe it. I believe that Elizabeth the first got into a deal with the Ottoman Empire and they had a deal concerning the Sudan and those who care to buy the book, buy the book. It’s written by a fellow called, the name of the book is The Martyrdom of Man.
“As far as Africa was concerned, two empires got together and decided that this land will go to the sons of Ishmael. It is self-evident, but let’s not go there. This is not a political forum. This is a church and the church has responsibilities to get right what man got wrong. She’s the light of the world and the salt of the earth. That’s important.
The National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, Rauf Aregbesola, has assured that the party, if given the chance, will prioritise the well-being of the people.
He said, “The people are the centre of politics and the government. Any government, whether democratic, military, authoritarian, monarchical, or by whatever definition, that does not make their welfare and well-being the basis of governance, will soon lose relevance and die.
“There is a limit to which the people can be squeezed and pushed before something eventually gives.”
According to the palace, Oba Owoade had intended to visit the Ooni as the first point of call during the visit but was informed that Oba Adeyeye was out of the country.
In an interview with newsmen, Oba Owoade’s Personal Assistant, Kolade Oladele, said the Alaafin’s protocol officer had contacted the Ooni’s palace to inform them of the visit but was told that Oba Ogunwusi was unavailable.
“We didn’t ignore the Ooni during the visit. We reached out to the palace but were told that Ooni wasn’t around. Ooni’s palace was the first point of call in our initial itinerary, but we had to visit the Oluwo first because of the development,” he stated.
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu has declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu as winner of the 2023 presidential election.
The INEC chair made the declaration on Wednesday at the National Collation Centre, Abuja.
Tinubu defeated 17 other candidates who took part in the election. He scored a total of 8,794,726 votes, the highest of all the candidates, thus meeting the first constitutional requirement to be declared the winner.
He also scored over 25 per cent of the votes cast in 30 states, more than the 25 states constitutionally required.
INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, who announced the final results in the early hours of Wednesday in Abuja, said Atiku Abubakar of the PDP came second in the election.
Atiku polled a total of 6,984,520 votes in the election.
Peter Obi of the Labour Party came third in the election with a total of 6,101,533 votes while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP came fourth with 1,496,687 votes.
Only the top four candidates won the presidential election in at least one state. Each of Messrs Tinubu, Atiku and Obi won in 12 states while Mr Kwankwaso won only in Kano.
However, winning a majority of states is not a requirement for a candidate to be declared the winner of the election.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has raised the alarm that danger is lurking around the country over the alleged compromise of the ongoing election process.
Obasanjo appealed to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), to prevail on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, to stop the process and rectify the allegations raised against it from many quarters.
Obasanjo in a personally signed letter titled, “An appeal for caution and rectification,” released on Monday, said some politicians had compromised some electoral officials to make the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines not to work.
He said, “I am constrained to speak at this point. I crave the indulgence of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency General Muhammadu Buhari, to make this statement because I have had opportunity to keep him aware of what I know is happening and the danger looming ahead.
“On many occasions in the past, I have not hesitated to point out lacuna in the action of the President and his government. But as far as the election issues are concerned, the President has proved beyond reasonable doubt that he will want to leave a legacy of free, fair, transparent and credible elections.
“Until last Saturday night, February 25, 2023, the good and noble plan and preparation for the elections seemed to be going well. For the Independent National Electoral Commission, a lot of money was spent to introduce Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), and the server for immediate transmission of results from polling units. It is no secret that INEC officials, at operational levels, have been allegedly compromised to make what should have worked not to work and to revert to manual transmission of results which is manipulated and the results doctored.
“The Chairman of INEC may claim ignorance but he cannot fold his hands and do nothing when he knows that election process has been corrupted and most of the results that are brought outside BVAS and server are not a true reflection of the will of Nigerians who have made their individual choice. At this stage, we do not need wittingly or unwittingly to set this country on fire with the greed, irresponsibility and unpatriotic act of those who allegedly gave money to INEC officials for perversion and those who collected the blood money.
“Let me appeal to the Chairman of INEC, if his hands are clean, to save Nigeria from the looming danger and disaster which is just waiting to happen. If the Chairman can postpone elections four days to the election, he can do everything to rectify the errors of the last two days – no BVAS, no result to be acceptable; and no uploading through Server, no result to be acceptable.
“Whereas, BVAS and Servers have been manipulated or rendered inactive, such results must be declared void and inadmissible for election declaration. Chairman INEC, I have thought that you would use this wonderful opportunity to mend your reputation and character for posterity.
“Your Excellency, President Buhari Muhammadu, tension is building up and please let all elections that do not pass the credibility and transparency test be cancelled and be brought back with areas where elections were disrupted for next Saturday, March 4, 2023, and BVAS and Server officials be changed. To know which stations or polling units were manipulated, let a committee of INEC staff and representatives of the four major political parties with the Chairman of Nigerian Bar Association look into what must be done to have hitch-free elections next Saturday.
“Mr. President, may your plan and hope for leaving a legacy of free, fair, transparent and credible election be realised. Mr. President, please don’t let anybody say to you that it does not matter or it is the problem of INEC. On no account should you be seen as part of the collusion or compromise. When the die is cast, it will be your problem as the Chief Executive of the nation. The Chairman of INEC may sneak out of the country or go back to his Ivory Tower. Your Excellency, thank you for hearing me out.
“Compatriot Nigerians, please exercise patience until the wrong is righted. I strongly believe that nobody will toy with the future and fortune of Nigeria at this juncture.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will commence the collation of 2023 presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday at midday.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, announced this at a news conference on the 2023 general elections in Abuja.
Yakubu said results were expected by the commission from the states starting from Sunday.
“I will like to invite you at midday tomorrow (Sunday) for the official opening of the National Innovation Centre for the 2023 general elections.
“We hope that by tomorrow, we expect to have some of the election results coming from states, particularly for the presidential election.
“So, the collation centre for the presidential election will open midday tomorrow,” Yakubu said.
He added that there won’t be need to address Nigerians before Sunday (Feb. 26), except if there was need to do so.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has given reasons why the opening of polling units was delayed by election officials.
According to the commission, insecurity in some states led to delays as well as logistics issues led to the delay.
This was disclosed in a briefing by the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, on Saturday.
He also said that thugs attacked three polling units and carted away five Bimodal Voter Authentication Systems.
He explained “One of the challenges identified is the inability of the commission in a number of places to open the polling units at the appointed time of 8:30 am. Some of the polling units opened late. But in line with our policy, any Nigerian who is in the queue will have the opportunity to vote no matter how long it takes until the last person in the queue before 2:30 pm votes.
“Some of the reasons why we could not open some of the polling units on time include; perennial problems of logistics in spite of our best efforts. I think we have conquered the challenge of getting election materials to various locations. Though there may be complaints here and there, generally speaking, we have delivered millions of ballot papers and result sheets that we are supposed to deliver for the election.
“But another contributing factor to the late opening of polling units is actually the perennial insecurity in the country. For instance, we could not deploy early enough to Alawa in Shiroro Local Government Area in Niger State. Bandits launched an attack, not necessarily on INEC offices or facilities but in the area. With the advice of the security agencies, we tarried a while but I am happy to say that we are able to deploy to Alawa, and voting in that location is ongoing as we speak.
Yakubu noted that the attacks by the thugs were targeted at the BVAS.
He said, “So in these locations, the target of attacks was actually the BVAS machines no longer our ballot papers or the ballot box.”
Voters in Ogege road, Odaba Polling Unit in Dekina Ward have fled from the voting arena following the activities of political thugs who came in large numbers to destroy voting materials.
The thugs who appeared with machetes and guns snatched ballot boxes, broke chairs and dispersed voters.
As of the time of filing this report, voters and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission have dispersed.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission has arrested a man with N2 million old and new naira notes in Alkaleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
The suspect, Hassan Ahmad, was arrested with the cash piled in a ‘Ghana Must Go’ bag while driving in a tinted Hilux vehicle.
He was on his way to Gombe from Bauchi State when he was arrested. The money was allegedly being taken to a politician.
The anti-graft agency disclosed this in a thread of tweets on its Twitter handle, @icpcnigeria, titled: “ICPC Takes Custody Of N2m Being Ferried To A Politician.”
The agency did not, however, disclose the identity of the politician.
It said: “The Bauchi State Office of ICPC has taken into custody one Hassan Ahmad in possession of the sum of two million naira cash in both old and new currencies amidst the cash crunch being witnessed in the country.
“The suspect was arrested on Friday by the Troops of 33 Artillery Brigade Operation Safe Conduct deployed to Alkaleri in Bauchi State and handed over to the Bauchi State Office of the anti-graft agency.
“Ahmad was in possession of N900,000 cash in new naira notes and N1.1 million in old naira notes and the funds were being conveyed in a tinted black Hilux vehicle with registration number JMA 85 AZ.
“The funds, which were packed in a ‘Ghana Must Go’ bag, comprise six bundles of one thousand naira new notes of N600,000; six bundles of five hundred naira new notes of N300,000, and old two hundred naira notes of N1.1 million.
“The suspect has confessed that the funds were being moved to Gombe State for a politician.”
There were strong indications that the All Progressives Congress national officials were divided over a plan by the President, Major General Muhammadu (retd.), to pick his preferred presidential candidate for the party.
Feelers from a meeting of the APC governors’ meeting on Tuesday night indicated that the governors could not agree on a consensus and the fact that the President should pick the party’s presidential candidate.
It was also learnt that the committee, which screened the party’s presidential aspirants, would submit its report to the National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, on Thursday (today).
Buhari, in an interview with Channels Television in January, said he had a favourite candidate, whom he said he would keep to himself.
“I wish to solicit the reciprocity and support of the governors and other stakeholders in picking my successor, who would fly the flag of our party for election into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2023,” the President urged the governors.
Meanwhile, the APC National Vice Chairman (North-West), Mallam Salihu Lukman, in an open letter to Buhari, warned that picking a successor would be costly and risky for the President and the party.
He stated, “The temptation for leaders to choose their successors is democratically risky and very costly. If in 2013/2014, Your Excellency could submit yourself to the internal democratic process, it is important that your successor also follows the same process.
“Notwithstanding, however, there is the overriding requirement to appeal to you to kindly resist the temptation. I would have wished we had enough time for open debate within our party. Unfortunately, as things are, we have less than one week to settle this matter.
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