Michael Ojuroye Initiative (Ngo)

INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega The Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday said  only the courts   could  order   total cancellation of any election conducted by it. The commission  was  reacting  to the calls by the  All Progressives Congress, Labour Party   and their candidates   for a total cancellation of the controversial governorship election in Anambra State on Saturday. It said  since the Chief Returning Officer, Prof. James Epoke, had announced most of  the results, INEC had no  power    to do anything contrary. “By law, those results are now beyond the purview of INEC to invalidate. Only the courts have that power now to do so,” Mr. Kayode Idowu, the   Chief Press Secretary to  the  INEC Chairman,  Prof. Attahiru Jega,   told The  PUNCH in Abuja.  Idowu added that with the inclusive nature of the electi...

Jigawa State Governor, Alh. Sule Lamido The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is making frantic moves to charge  two sons of the Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido to court. Aminu and Mustapha Lamido were flown to Abuja in the early hours of Friday by the operatives of the commission after their arrest in Kano on Thursday. There are strong indications that the anti-graft agency may charge the two brothers for fraud involving billions of naira belonging to the people of Jigawa State. It was learnt that the EFCC traced about N10bn to the accounts of companies of which the governor and his two sons were alleged to be directors and signatories to the account. The alleged transactions took place between 2007 and now. The commission has been holding the governor’s sons in relation with billions of naira belonging to the Jigawa State Government which were traced to their accounts of companies of which they and their father are said to be directors since Friday. On M...

Mohamed Yehia from the BBC's Arabic Service says the explosions come amid a spillover from the fighting in Syria At least 22 people are reported to have been killed in two explosions that hit the Iranian embassy in the Lebanese capital Beirut in quick succession. The Iranian cultural attache Ebrahim Ansari was among the dead. Iran is a major backer of the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah, which has sent fighters to Syria to back the government of Bashar al-Assad. A jihadist group linked to al-Qaeda, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, has said it carried out the attack. More than 140 people were wounded by the double blast on Tuesday morning Reports said one of the blasts was caused by a suicide bomber, while the second was a car bomb. TV images showed burning cars, bodies on the street and damaged buildings. Carine Torbey, from BBC Arabic, says if it is confirmed as a suicide attack, it would be a major escalation. Our correspondent, who is at the scene, says security...

Scene of the drama There was drama at the Palmgrove Bus Stop, Ikorodu Road, Lagos State, on Monday when a commercial bus driver stripped naked to avoid being arrested by officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority. The LASTMA officials had blocked five different commercial buses for indiscriminately taking passengers by the side of the road. Passengers in the four vehicles were asked to alight, as officials of the traffic agency took over the wheels of the impounded vehicles. There was however drama when the old man who drove the fifth bus suddenly went inside his bus and brought out a bowl. A fetid odour emanating from the bowl polluted the fresh morning air. The LASTMA officers, policemen and commuters ran for cover. But one of the officials came back and stood his ground, wielding a baton and insisting that the man must follow them. When it became obvious that the odour strategy had failed, the driver began pulling off his clothes, prostrating by the front tyres ...

Alhaji Muktari Mapia, the Deputy Treasurer of the Peoples’ Democratic Party ( PDP) in Sokoto State, on Tuesday said that there was no compromise on the unity of Nigeria. Mapia spoke against the background of issues for discussion at national conference proposed by President Goodluck Jonathan. “Nigeria has come to stay as one, indivisible country, in spite of the current political and insecurity challenges plaguing the nation,” he added. Mapia told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto that what the country was passing through at the moment was very normal and not too peculiar. “The earliest the country can overcome these seemingly formidable challenges, the better for the country and her citizens,” Mapia, said. He said that the nation needed an institutionalized formal policy that would project holistic awareness, collective participation and teamwork. Mapia said that this would be the basis for sustainable peace in Nigeria in a diverse setting. “Nigeria’s bond of unity and st...