Author: Festus Adeloye

The Independent National Electoral Commission has announced plans to conduct a mock voter accreditation exercise on September 10, 2024, as part of its preparations for the upcoming Edo State Governorship Election. The election is slated for September 21, 2024. The National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, announced on Tuesday. The mock exercise is intended to test the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the electronic result upload process to the INEC Result Viewing portal. The exercise will run from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the designated day. “In continuation of…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that his military had recently carried out the first successful test of a domestically-produced ballistic missile. His announcement in Kyiv came in the wake of two consecutive nights of large-scale Russian bombardments across Ukraine that killed several people and battered energy infrastructure. “There has been a positive test of the first Ukrainian ballistic missile. I congratulate our defence industry on this. I can’t share any more details about this missile,” he said at a press conference in the Ukrainian capital. Ukraine has been attempting to develop its own arms industry and encourage military production…

The impact of high flooding has destroyed crops in the Argungu Local Government Area and other affected regions in Kebbi and Niger States. This was revealed by the Head of Press and Public Affairs at the National Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPPADEC), Nura Wakili in a statement on Tuesday, while extending deepest sympathies to the farmers who were affected by the environmental disaster. The commission said it viewed the unfortunate event as a significant setback to the nation’s efforts in promoting sustainability and ensuring food security. The statement said the Commission’s Managing Director, Abubakar Yelwa, expressed deep concern…

Brazil is tightening entry requirements from Monday after a surge in migrants disembarking during stopovers at Sao Paulo’s main airport in a bid to seek asylum in the country. Their goal is to enter Brazil and make their way overland to the United States. “Brazil has become a route for criminal organisations that smuggle immigrants and traffic people. Authorities have identified an exponential increase in the number of nationals mainly from Asian countries,” Brazil’s justice ministry said in a statement to AFP. The travellers buy plane tickets with final destinations in other South American countries, and are advised by people…

The National Working Committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress will today meet with Benue senators, House of Representatives members, and stakeholders of the party in the state to resolve the lingering feud between loyalists of Governor Hyacinth Alia and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume. For over a year, the Benue chapter of the APC has been balkanised and embroiled in crisis by political gladiators fighting for control of the party. While Austin Agada led the Akume’s faction of the party, Benjamin Omakolo was in charge of the Alia faction. The National Deputy Organising Secretary…

Nigeria and several other countries that have been recently hit by the Monkey Pox (MPOX) outbreak, stand to benefit from a $135m funding plan by the World Health Organization (WHO). A statement by the organisation on Monday said the fund was necessary as it has launched a global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to stop outbreaks of human-to-human transmission of mpox through coordinated global, regional, and national efforts. This follows the declaration of a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO Director-General on 14 August. Although the current plan is subject to inputs by WHO’s member states, who…

State police is long overdue in Nigeria, and the time has come for it to be created in all states as part of the critical solutions to security challenges in the country. This was the view of the Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who spoke on Monday at the Annual General Conference of the Nigeria Bar Association at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos. While delivering a lecture at the Breakout Session tagged, ‘Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu Leadership series: Is state police a solution to national insecurity?’, Aiyedatiwa declared his support for the creation of state police in all the…

Domestic travellers paid 25 per cent more for air flights in July 2024, a new report by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said. The bureau in its Transport Fare Watch Report for July said domestic air fare rose by 25 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to ₦98,561.74 in July 2024 from ₦78.775.74 in July 2023. NBS said: “In air travel, the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey was N98,561.74 in July 2024, showing an increase of 9.65 per cent compared to the previous month (June 2024). “On a YoY basis, the fare rose by…

The Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Magaji Bichi, has resigned. His resignation was made known in a statement signed by the media aide to President Bola Tinubu, Ajuri Ngelale on Monday. Ngelale also announced the appointment of new Directors-General for the DSS and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), whose DG Ahmed Abubakar had earlier tendered his resignation to the President on Saturday. While Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi replaces Bichi as the new Director-General of the DSS, Mohammed Mohammed replaces Abubakar the new Director-General of the NIA. Bichi made a steady career in the DSS where he…

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of new Directors-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Department of State Services (DSS). Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed is the new Director-General of the NIA. Mr. Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi is the new Director-General of the DSS. Ambassador Mohammed has had an illustrious career in the foreign service since joining the NIA in 1995. He had served in various roles, culminating in his promotion to the rank of Director and his subsequent appointment as the head of the Nigerian mission to Libya. The 1990 graduate of Bayero University, Kano, had served in North…