Politics
National Assembly to make smart card reader compulsory in future elections
File Photo The National Assembly plans to make the use of Smart Card Reader compulsory in future elections in Nigeria, a lawmaker has said. The Chairperson of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Aishatu Dukku, said this at a Joint Public Hearing on “The Bill for an Act to repeal the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended) and enact the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Act, 2020″, on Wednesday in Abuja. The event was organised by the National Assembly Joint Committee on INEC and Electoral Matters. Ms Dukku said the amendment will affect about 300 clauses in the Act. ” In Section 49 of the Electoral Act 2010 under Use of Ballot Paper, Subsection (1) and (2) are to be amended to read: “A person intending to vote in an election shall present himself with his voter’s card to a pre...
APC chieftain alleges plan to destabilize party using courts in Rivers
Chris Finebone, a chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC, claims he has uncovered plans by a group working in cohort with the Rivers government to use the state judiciary to destabilize the party. Finebone, a former spokesperson for the party in Rivers made the allegation in a statement on Tuesday. He alleged that Governor Nyesom Wike and the Rivers chapter of PDP hatched the plot to destabilize the APC nationwide by making available Rivers State courts to enemies of the party (within and from outside the State) to file all manner of cases against it with a view to destabilizing the party as politics of 2023 approaches. Finebone further claimed that he learned from sources he did not disclose that the decision to use Rivers Courts was hatched at the highest level of government directl...
APC: PDP pushing Nigeria into one-party state
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of pushing the country into a one-party state. The ruling party said this in a reaction to a statement credited to the opposition party. PDP had asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister APC and declare seats of its lawmakers vacant following its decision to dissolve all organs of the party. In a statement on Tuesday, Yekini Nabena, APC deputy spokesman, described PDP’s call as a “beer parlour rant”. “If the PDP assumes this as its standard of opposition politics, then our democracy is in danger. It is now clear that the PDP’s disillusion following their rejection by Nigerians in the 2015 and 2019 general election has degenerated into senility,” Nabena said. “With the PDP as th...
NASS bye-election: APC’s David Lyon calls for peace, hails INEC
The South-South representative at the National Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Chief David Lyon, has sued for peace over the outcome of the Bayelsa Central bye-election held on Saturday. Lyon, who commended the people for the peaceful conduct of the election, expressed satisfaction with the improvements by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in distributing sensitive and non-sensitive materials across the difficult creeks of his constituency. He called for unity among the people of the State, pointing out that elections provide the opportunity for people to freely choose their own candidate and equally afford the candidate the opportunity to canvas eligible votes in a free and fair manner. Lyon condemned situatio...
Self-Proclaimed Centrist Matthew McConaughey Criticizes Hollywood’s “Illiberal Left”
During a recent appearance on comedian Russell Brand’s podcast, Matthew McConaughey explained his “aggressively centrist” political views while taking both the left and right to task. McConaughey has been espousing a burgeoning political interest recently, even going so far as to mull over the idea of running for Governor of Texas. However, the actor sees politics as a “broken business” split too adamantly along divisive lines. On his Under the Skin podcast, Brand asked McConaughey about the “judgement” and values of the left-right divide, specifically noting the “condemnation and criticism” of “ordinary working people” who voted for Brexit or Trump. The actor responded that “the two vehicles on either side of the political aisle are so far apart, their fucking tires aren’t even on the pav...
House Passes Marijuana Decriminalization Bill, Not Likely To Pass Senate
Source: ArtistGNDphotography / Getty A small but significant victory for cannabis legalization advocates took place in the U.S. House of Representatives with the passage of a new bill. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act [MORE] was passed last week but it doesn’t appear likely that the bill will go into law in the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate chamber. The bill was passed with the support of a handful of Republican members of Congress and was largely backed by the Democrats in the chamber although some members of their party voted against the MORE Act. One of the main tenets of the bill would be to, “address the devastating injustices caused by the War on Drugs” and while that position is shared across the aisle in the House, the Senate is another matter altogether. The...
Governor Umahi: I supported President Buhari during 2019 poll
Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi has admitted supporting President Muhammdau Buhari during the 2019 general election, even as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Umahi said this at the foundation laying ceremony of a housing project in his home town – Uburu on Monday. The governor said that his former party should not waste time in accusing him of giving the president 25 per cent votes during the election. “I preached it in the entire south east zone of the country, that the person who supports us is whom we will support. “I joined the APC for the president’s love for Ebonyi even if for no other reason. “My eyes are on the ball – on what will get to my people,” he said. Umahi said that he plans to submit a proposal for a channelisation work which will cut across the housing project, ...
PDP wins Enugu bye-election
File Photo The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Sunday, declared Amaka Ugwueze, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), winner of Isi-Uzo State Constituency bye-election in Enugu State. Declaring the results at Isi-Uzo council headquarters in Ikem, INEC Collation Officer for the bye-election, Chukwuemeka Nwachukwu, said that Mrs Ugwueze polled 11,041 votes to defeat her close rival, Ejiofor Okwor, candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 2,293 votes. Mr Nwachukwu said that the rest of the other seven political parties that contested in the bye-election scored less than 70 votes each. The Isi-Uzo Constituency bye-election took place on Saturday, December 5, in the 11 political wards within Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State. He note...
Ex-Governor Dickson wins Bayelsa West senatorial bye-election
File Photo The immediate past governor of Bayelsa State and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s candidate for Bayelsa West Senatorial District bye-election Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, has been declared the winner of the bye-election. Dickson who won in a landslide victory polled 115,257 votes in Sagbama and Ekeremor Local Government Area. He defeated the former speaker, Peremonowei Ebebi of the All Progressive Congress, APC, who polled 17,541 votes. Prof Ekechukwe Okeke, Dean of Faculty of Humanity, Federal University of Otuoke, who was the INEC Returning Officer for the District announced the result and declared Dickson winner. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with gi...
Governor Fayemi mourns Harry Akande’s demise
Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has commiserated with the family of the late business mogul and former Presidential aspirant, Chief Harry Akande, who passed on Saturday, aged 77. In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, the Governor described Akande’s death as an unfortunate and irreparable loss not only to members of his family and the good people of Oyo State but to the nation at large. The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum said the late Akande worked his way to the top, built a solid business empire and became influential across the globe through dint of hard work, brilliance and diligence. Fayemi said the Ibadan-born Billionaire ventured into the Nigerian politics with the intent of using politics as a tool for social and economic change, but could n...
APC wins Plateau South senatorial bye-election
Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in at Saturday’s Plateau South senatorial bye-election, Prof Nora Daddut, has been declared winner and returned elected. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returning officer and Deputy Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Lafia, Professor Idris Amale, announced that Prof Nora polled a total of 83,15104 votes, while Hon. George Daika, his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival, polled 70,838 votes. He therefore declared Daddut as the winner of the election. The candidate of the APC defeated her closest opponent in four local government areas in the senatorial zone, namely Shendam, Wade, Quan’pan, and Mikang, while the PDP candidate won in two local government areas; Langtang North and Langtang South. Get more stories like this o...
Lagos bye-election: Babatunde Gbadamosi kicks over result
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate in the Lagos East Senatorial District bye election, Babatunde Olalere Gbadamosi, BOG, has condemned the results released so far by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in the Saturday exercise, as being “manipulated.” Gbadamosi, in reaction to the exercise, said, “The election was manipulated and I was clearly rigged out.” Meantime, in reaction to BOG’s claim, the Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APÇ, in Lagos, Mr Seye Oladejo, said, “We’re not surprised by Gbadamosi’s reaction to the results of an election that’s yet to be officially declared because he’s so predictable. “However, we acknowledge feelers from our agents who have reported overwhelming victory for Tokunbo Abiru. “We can only emphatize with a se...
