Folarin Kehinde

Frequent Flood has ravaged more than 200 households in Makurdi, Benue State.

Executive Secretary, Benue State Emergency Management Agency, Dr Emmanuel Shior, made the disclosure in Makurdi on Wednesday at the monthly distribution of relief materials to Internally Displaced Persons.

He listed affected parts of the Benue capital as Naka Road, Achusa Kucha Utebe, Gyado Villa, Judge’s Quarters Extension and parts of Nyiman among others.

Shior noted that the flood was not this terrible in the state in the past.

He assured that the state’s Committee on Floods had approved the expansion of selected camps in Makurdi, Guma and Logo to accommodate flood victims.

He added that recent attacks on some communities in the state had resulted in the displacement of more than 400,000 people.

He said the state government was catering to the victims and to refugees from Cameroon staying in Kwande Local Government Area of the state.

He appealed to the Federal Government to assist as the burden was becoming cumbersome for the state government.

Shior said assailants killed and maimed and also destroyed infrastructures such as markets, churches, and schools in communities attacked.

Peter Obi has criticized the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, saying that the 2023 presidential election is not the turn of anybody.

The Presidential candidate of Labour Party took a swipe at Tinubu’s ’Emi Lokan’ comment meaning ‘I am the next’ during the party Leadership Retreat in Abuja.

According to him, religion or ethnicity should not be used by Nigerians to choose their next leader but rather, the people of the country should consider character, trust and competence.

He said, “We will do this retreat now, after the election we will do another one, the election next year will not be based on ethnicity, we have had it before, it would not be on religion.

“There is no place that Christians buy things cheaper, there is no place that Muslims buy things cheaper. It will not be by turn; it is nobody’s turn. It must not be by connection.

“The election next year must be based on character and trust; it must be based on competence.”

Speaking further, Obi said that there is a need for leaders to fight and be seen to be fighting corruption, adding that during his time as the Anambra State Governor, no money was missing.

He said, “If a leader is not stealing, and the family around him are not stealing we will reduce corruption by 70 per cent. I was Governor for eight years, there is nowhere money is missing.

“I am in this retreat to listen, let us put it in writing when we succeed, you must be around to say this is what we have agreed on. Even if we don’t achieve 100 per cent, we must have made sacrifices.

President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived in the southeastern state of Imo to commission some projects by Governor Hope Uzodimma’s administration despite the sit at home order given by the indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The President arrived at the Sam Mbakwe Cargo Airport at exactly 11 am on Tuesday and was received by Governor Uzodimma and other leaders of the state.

Buhari was also welcomed by a crowd at the airport with most of them comprising men in red caps and white outfits. There were also women in traditional outfits dancing on the tarmac as the President arrived in Imo State.

He is in the state to commission Okigwe and Orlu roads as well as the rehabilitated House of Assembly Complex in Owerri among others.

Tuesday’s visit is coming about one year after the Nigerian leader came to the state to launch projects and hold talks with Igbo leaders.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed and delisted over 1 million newly registered voters due to double registration and invalid records.

INEC has said that out of the 2, 523,458 fresh registrants that registered between 28th June 2021 and 14th January 2022, 1,126,359 records were found to be invalid and consequently delisted.

The invalid records might have been caused as a result of a rush by Nigerians to register before the end of the deadline given by INEC

The commission claimed that several double, multiple, and ineligible registrants have also been detected and invalidated, adding that these include entries that fail to meet the commission’s business rules.

The national commissioner and chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye who disclosed this in Abuja yesterday in a statement made available to newsmen insisted that a thorough process was being undertaken to clean up the registration data.

Similarly, he said Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for all valid registrants will be available for collection by the end of October/early November as promised.

Okoye said cleaning up of the register of voters using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) is ongoing since the suspension of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) on 31st July 2022.

The statement reads in part: “The ABIS for the period – 15th January to 31st July 2022 is almost completed. Several double, multiple, and ineligible registrants have also been detected and invalidated. These include entries that fail to meet the Commission’s business rules.

“The commission takes this responsibility seriously because a credible register is at the heart of electoral integrity.

“As soon as the process is concluded, the commission will provide the public with full information as usual.”

Thereafter, he said valid registrants will be added to the existing national register of voters before publishing same nationwide for scrutiny, claims and objections by citizens as required by section 19 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022.

William Samoei Ruto has officially been declared President of Kenya replacing former president Uhuru Kenyatta.

His swearing-in ceremony, took place today 13/09/2022 at the Karasani Stadium, Kenya.

He was sworn in by the Chief Judge, Martha Koome, at a ceremony held in the packed Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani.

Amid cheers from the excited crowd, Ruto swore an oath of allegiance and another oath for the execution of the functions of the office.

Ruto also appended his signature to the corresponding documents, as seen in the live broadcast monitored by our correspondent on Tuesday.

With his inauguration, Ruto becomes the fifth president of Independent Kenya, and the second ethnic Kalenjin after the late Daniel Arap Moi to hold the office.

The outgoing president Uhuru Kenyatta congratulated Ruto on his victory in the August 9 poll yesterday.

Kenyans quoted Uhuru as saying, “As a hallmark of our democracy, therefore, I will, before God and my fellow countrymen, handover the instruments of power to our new president at the Moi International Sports Center Kasarani and with that, the fourth administration will come to an end and the tenure of the fifth administration will begin.”

“My family and I join all Kenyans in wishing the very best to our next President Dr. William Samoei Ruto and extending to him our warmest congratulations for receiving the mandate of Kenyans to lead us as our 5th president.”

The Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, was also at the swearing-in ceremony.

Osinbajo’s media aide, Laolu Akande, made this known in a tweet which read, “VP Osinbajo now in Nairobi, Kenya where he is representing Nigeria at the inauguration of Dr. William Ruto as Kenya’s fifth President today.