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The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in the appeal over the Kano State governorship election.

A five-member panel of justices presided by Justice Inyang Okoro on Thursday reserved the judgment after listening to lawyers in the matter.

Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State and the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) had filed the appeal challenging the November 17 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which nullified their victory in the March 19 governorship election.

The party are also notifying the apex court of the contradictions in the CTC of the judgment which upheld the governor’s election and awarded him the sum of N1 million in damages.

A three-member panel of justices led by Justice Moore A. Adumein upheld the appeal of Nasir Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The panel held that Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) was not a registered member of the party and, therefore, not qualified to contest the election.

However, in the long argument before the apex court on Thursday, parties raised issues concerning the jurisdiction of the court in political party membership of a candidate.

The lawyers also argued over whether the court could “visit the sin” of INEC’ failure to sign over 160,000 ballot papers on the voters in Kano State.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the reintroduction of the popular school feeding program.

The program, previously suspended by the Muhammadu Buhari administration after years of operation, will now fall under the Ministry of Education, a shift from its previous placement under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.

Minister of Education Prof Tahir Mamman, who revealed the president’s directive during a recent retreat, said if the learning crisis is not tackled, it will be difficult to address the challenges of out-of-school children.

He added that the retreat served as a brainstorming session to map out concrete steps for implementing existing policies and clearly assigning responsibilities to different agencies, all in the fight against the out-of-school children crisis.

Ahead of the Christmas festivities, the Abia State Government has directed all local government council chairmen to dismantle all political billboards from the recent general elections.

Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu, announced the order following this week’s state executive council meeting, presided over by Governor Alex Otti.

He also expressed regret that street trading in the state has become a menace and is adversely impacting the newly constructed roads by the government.

According to him, “Despite spirited efforts by the government to arrest the menace, it continues unabated,” warning that the government will not fold its arms and watch the anomaly continue.

“With all the efforts the government has made, this menace (street trading) keeps rearing its ugly head, particularly in Aba. Incidentally, most of the new roads that the government has constructed, people use them to trade, and this will not augur well for these new roads.

“There has been a lot of interface between government officials and the market authorities, and in other instances, the culprits as it were; everything has been done, but to no avail. Despite the fact that this government puts a human face on its activities, by the New Year, the government will go all out to enforce the law.”

Former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has said President Bola Tinubu did not broker peace in Rivers State but used his office to enhance his party’s fortunes, All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a statement yesterday, Lamido accused the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of docility.

He said it was inconceivable that the party allowed its arch-rival, Tinubu, to intervene in the dispute between the Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his predecessor, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

Lamido, in the statement, said it was a point of irresponsibility for the PDP leadership to allow its opponent to settle a political difference between PDP members.

He stated, “Pray, do we still have the National Working Committee of the PDP? Or better still, do we have a party called PDP?

“If we have one of the two, how come their total absence in the saga playing out in the PDP family in Rivers? Is the docility of the leadership of the PDP so comatose to the extent that President Tinubu of APC, our sworn rival and opponent, is now the grand patriarch of PDP?

The former Minister of Foreign Affairs added, “It is inconceivable that a political party will simply sit back and allow its fortunes taken over by a rapacious scavenger, the APC.

“What President Tinubu did in the so-called peace meeting is not brokering peace in Rivers State, but using his office to enhance the fortunes of his political party.

“There are many areas yearning for peace in the country where President Tinubu’s political expertise, sagacity and wisdom are needed. What skills has he applied to stop the killings of citizens in Nigeria, which is his primary responsibility, which he has conveniently looked away?

“Unwittingly, the so-called peace accord in Rivers only planted the mines, which will definitely explode in the not-too-distant future, with collateral consequences on the entire country. Asari Mujaheed Tokubo and Chief Edwin Clark have alluded to this last week.”

Lamido said the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) “should feel sufficiently embarrassed, if not slighted, by the action taken by President Tinubu to reward a political mercenary with PDP fortunes in Rivers State.

“More to the eternal shame of PDP NWC that a tribal voice of Ijaws through Chief Edwin Clark’s press conference has to be deployed to challenge the illegality and unconstitutionality of the peace accord.

“Like Chief Clark said in the press conference, if Tinubu, as the then governor of Lagos, could stand up and fight President Obasanjo’s awesome power and personality and endure to overcome, can’t PDP do likewise?

“The PDP must take off from where Chief Clark started to fight this illegality through our justice system and all other legal means possible!

“If the national executive of the PDP does not have the nerve to stand up and protect its own, it should honourably step down to allow for the election of competent hands.”

Lamido also gave advice to the Rivers State governor, saying: “To Governor Fubara of Rivers State, the document you signed was under an environment not friendly to real conflict resolution, and it was presided over by the force of fear, intimidation and blackmail. Therefore, shred the document and toss it into trash can.

“Governor Fubara may wish to know that President Tinubu, who chaired the meeting, was running with the deer and hunting with hound!”

Ahead of the festive period, MTN Nigeria is partnering the Federal Road Safety Corps to temporarily open the Amawbia, Anambra State sections of the partially completed Enugu-Onitsha Dual Carriage Way.

Leading Reporters gathered that MTN is the financier of the dual carriageway that connects Anambra and other South-East states.

The Coordinator, MTN Community Liaison Initiative, Dr Reginald Facah, during a press conference in Amawbia, near Awka, Anambra State, said the road was opened to ease traffic flow for South-East commuters travelling during the Yuletide.

Facah noted that there has been a high influx of traffic along the Onitsha carriageway resulting in gridlock because of the Yuletide season, adding that the essence of opening the road is to decongest the traffic to make travelling seamless for road users.

He said, “Today, we are gathered to temporarily open the partially completed sections of the Enugu-Onitsha Dual Carriage Way, not because the entire project is ready, but because December and Christmas have seen unimaginable suffering on the parts of commuters and drivers on this same road.

“However, with today’s opening of the Amawbia section and the opening of Amawbia flyover, an untrammeled driving experience is once again here for human and vehicular traffic which are usually heat during this period.”

On his part, the Senior Manager Sales, MTN, Emmanuel Okereke, said the organisation is excited to partner with the Federal Government on a road infrastructure tax credit scheme to complete the rehabilitation of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway.

Okereke said, “This road does not only connect Enugu and Anambra states; it is a gateway to the rest of the country and Africa. Our commitment is to deliver an expressway that will be the pride of the South-East people and Nigerians in general.”

In his remarks, Sector Commander FRSC, Anambra State, Adeoye Irelewuyi, said, “At festive periods like this, this section of the road always experienced very serious traffic jam at the slightest obstruction to traffic flow usually causes a pile-up in both directions.

“It is therefore with great joy and relief that the Anambra State Command of the FRSC is marking this occasion of the temporary opening of this section.

“We surely believe that it will ease the traffic jam usually experienced at the Amawbia flyover and underpass, as well as reduce road traffic crashes on the stretch.

The Sector Commander appealed to the people of the state and indeed all road users travelling during and after this Yuletide period to always exercise patience.

Earlier, the Anambra State Commissioner for Transport, Patricia Igwebuike, lauded MTN for their timely intervention and encouraged road users to use the road with caution, especially the Yuletide.

The Lagos State Government has warned residents of the state against improper waste disposal during the Yuletide celebrations.

The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, in a statement on Wednesday, charged residents across the state to maintain a clean environment during and after the Yuletide for healthy living.

Wahab said it was important to remind Lagosians to show utmost love for the environment even as they celebrate by ensuring that all waste generated during the Christmas and New Year celebrations is properly disposed of.

He said, “I would like to urge all residents to endeavour to maintain a clean, safe and sustainable environment always because if you continue to haunt the environment through improper waste disposal, it will come back to you through flooding.”

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He noted that “to avoid the spread of all forms of diseases, all forms of waste generated during the festive period must be properly disposed of through bagging and placed at the appropriate places for LAWMA officials to pick up.”

The commissioner assured residents that, because of the increased waste that is envisaged to be generated this season, the government, through the combined efforts of the ministry and the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, would continue to rid Lagos of refuse heaps.

He added that the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was at the forefront of the campaign for healthy people and a cleaner environment, thus encouraging Lagosians to desist from acts that could have negative impacts on the environment.

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC ) has declared a free train ride from Thursday on all its passenger services.

This followed the directive of President Bola Tinubu who also approved a 50 per cent reduction in interstate bus fares to enable the people to travel for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The NRC in a statement said following the President’s directive, it would commence free train service on its entire passengers’ services from Thursday, December 21, 2023 to Thursday January 4, 2024, both days inclusive.

The statement added, “Passengers are advised to obtain their free tickets via the online e-ticketing platforms only. Tickets will not be issued at any of the corporation’s train stations. Please note that no commuter will be allowed to board the train without a ticket.

“We enjoin commuters to be orderly, obey security personnel and the laid down boarding instructions of the NRC and those of its officials while at the station and on board the trains. We wish all our esteemed customers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in advance.”

The President had approved the intervention of the Federal Government in reducing the cost of transportation for the Christmas and New Year festivities to 50 per cent on all inter-state routes.

The Minister of Solid Minerals, Mr Dele Alake, who disclosed this while briefing State House Correspondents on Wednesday in Abuja, said logistics for the Federal Government subsidised transport fare had been concluded.

He said this was part of the President’s resolve to reduce the hardship faced by many Nigerians who wish to travel to see their family and friends during the Yuletide.

Alake stated, “In the spirit of Christmas and the end of year festivities, President Bola Tinubu, in another demonstration of his love for Nigerians, has approved that the Federal Government should intervene to bring down the cost of public transportation.

“This is to allow our compatriots who want to travel to visit their loved ones and hometowns to do so without stress and the extra burden imposed by the high cost of transport around this period. The President is well aware of the recent increase in cost of inter-state transportation and even for air travels.

“Traditionally, our people love to travel during Christmas and end of year to be with families and friends and this has been the practice for ages.”

The minister explained that the Federal Government would be working through the Ministry of Transportation to reach out to transporters, road transport unions, Nigerian Railway Corporation to seamlessly deliver on the special presidential initiative.

He added, “It is in this wise that the Federal Government is announcing, beginning from Thursday, a special discounted holiday season fare on road transport and zero-fare by rail across Nigeria.

“What this means is that from Thursday, Nigerians willing to travel can board public transport via minibuses, luxury buses at 50 per cent discount of current cost and all our train services on the routes the trains currently serve at zero cost to and fro on their travels this holiday season.”

Alake said this reduction would affect routes like Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Ibadan, Akure, Maiduguri, Sokoto and other major inter-state transportation hubs.

He also said Tinubu directed the police, Department of State Services, the military and other security agencies to collaborate to ensure safety of lives and property during the festive period.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, also explained that the measure was not a one-off thing by the Federal Government, adding, “This is part of efforts President Bola Tinubu intends to be doing. It is not a one-off thing, and even though it is targeted at Christmas, the President would continue to review situations especially national holidays like this and see what kind of intervention can come going forward.”

The Minister of Transportation, Alhaji Saidu Alkali, disclosed that the Federal Government already met with the leadership of the transport companies toward a successful and efficient reduction cost.

He said the ministry would maintain all the train routes in order to ensure that Nigerians enjoyed the maximum benefits of these special presidential intervention.