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It was cries, tears and woes in National Hospital Abuja on Sunday as many lives were reportedly lost following the sudden and mysterious fire outbreak that engulfed the generator house of the hospital.

According to an eye witness, trouble started few minutes after the death of a young boy simply identified as David Umar. The boy who was allegedly knocked down by a hit and run Hilux driver along Airport Road, was brought into the hospital by a good Samaritan. It was reported that the hospital nurses did not attend to David, claiming that doctors were on strike and insisting on getting a police report.

It was reported that David who has lost so much blood eventually gave up the ghost.

The source said that soon after David gave up the ghost, flames of fire were noticed around the power house of the hospital and all the generators were caught up in the inferno, thereby cutting off power supply to the hospital.

This was said to have led to the deaths of many patients, mostly children kept in incubating machines.

Others hit by the unfortunate incident were those under life support machines and oxygen.

The number of deaths recorded was unknown as at time of filing this report, but unconfirmed report said that no fewer than ten people lost their lives in a single day in the hospital.

The supreme court has dismissed the suit seeking the disqualification of Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima as presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

A five-member panel of the supreme court held on Friday that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lacked the locus standi to institute the suit.

The panel said the PDP is not a member of the APC.

The PDP had claimed that Shettima’s nomination as Tinubu’s running mate was in breach of the provisions of sections 29(1), 33, 35, and 84(1)(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022.

The opposition party argued that Shettima’s nomination to contest the position of vice-president and Borno central senatorial seat — at the same time — contravened the law.

The outgoing governor of Abia State, Mr Okezie Ikpeazu is making last minute move to use the judiciary to obstruct the swearing in of the gubernatorial winner of the March 2023 elections, Alex Otti of Labor Party to pave way for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Okechukwu Ahiwe.

This is following a judgment by a Kano Federal High Court Judge, Justice Mohammed.N. Yunusa who gave an order cancelling the elections that brought in LP candidates in Kano which spiralled to Abia State candidates.

Yunusa was once suspended by the National Judicial Council in July 2016 and also alleged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for judicial bribery.
The Kano judgment has been appealed by the leadership of the Labor Party and Otti.

We gathered that a female Judge in Abia was again approached to give another judgment nullifying Otti’s candidature but she told them that it is impossible in law to give such orders.

Our source stated that they are currently in Sokoto State, allegedly led by Ikpeazu’s former Chief of Staff, ACB Agbazuere. They have slept in Sokoto for two nights shopping for a judge that will give an order stopping the inauguration of Alex Otti.

An Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC) Federal Commissioner who spoke on condition of being unnamed stated that no judgment brought can stop the inauguration of any governor when a superior court has been appealed to.

He noted that they have received court papers from LP showing that the Kano judgment has been appealed and cannot do anything until the Appeal Court decides.

The United Kingdom has slammed restrictions on student visa routes in a bid to cut net migration, a statement on Tuesday announced.

The policy restricts students from Nigeria and other countries from bringing family members on all but postgraduate research routes.

The government also banned people from using a student visa as a backdoor route to work in the UK, noting that net migration was over 500,000 from June 2021 to June 2022.

It reaffirmed its commitment to the International Education Strategy which supports the economy through the contribution students can bring to the UK.

The government has also made clear that the terms of the graduate route remain unchanged, announcing the new reforms affecting students starting from January 2023.

The UK promised to work with the higher education sector to explore alternative options to ensure the brightest and best students can continue to bring dependents.

Furthermore, to prevent misuse of the visa system, students will be stopped from switching from the student visa route to work routes until their studies have been completed.

The World Health Organisation, WHO, has told the planet to be ready for a disease deadlier than COVID-19.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus gave the warning on Monday while unveiling a new global scheme to spot and track the most dangerous pathogens during an annual meeting of its 194 member states in Geneva, Switzerland.

Speaking with the World Health Assembly forum on the threat of a new public health crisis that could not be kicked ‘down the road’, Tedros stated that despite the darkest days of the pandemic being consigned to history, a doomsday COVID-19 variant with the power to send the world back to square one could still spawn.

The threat of another variant emerging that causes new surges of disease and death remains. And the threat of another pathogen emerging with even deadlier potential remains,” he said.

Although, no specific diseases were named. But ‘Disease X’ — a place-holder given to a devastating pathogen not yet discovered — is on the UN agency’s list of pressing threats.

Dr Tedros’ comments come weeks after WHO declared that COVID-19 was no longer a public health emergency of international concern. Instead, the virus is now considered an ‘established and ongoing health issue.

President Muhammadu Buhari, the president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, Faure Gnassingbé of Togo, Mahamat Déby of Chad, Macky Sall of Senegal and Mohamed Bazoum of Niger are set to commission Africa’s largest 650,000 Barrels Per Day Dangote Refinery, today, Monday in Ibeju-Lekki Lagos.

Also, President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will grace the occasion, and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who will not be physically present, will present his goodwill message virtually.

The epoch-making event is expected to transform Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

The new Refinery owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote can meet 100% of the Nigerian requirement for all refined products (Gasoline, 53 million litres per day; Diesel, 34 million litres per day; Kerosene, 10 million litres per day, and Aviation Jet, 2 million litres per day) and also have a surplus of each of these products for export.

As of the time of filing this report, all the 36 state governors and most of the governors-elect, ministers, senators, and captains of industries in Nigeria and others from outside the country, global oil traders, top international bankers, international multilateral agencies have indicated their readiness to grace the ceremony.

The Chairman of the Presidential Transition Council and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, has said the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, and Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima, will be honoured with the Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic and Grand Commander of Order of the Niger respectively on May 25.

He also said there would be the handover of transition documents to Tinubu and Shettima on the same day.

Similarly, he said the former president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, would deliver the inauguration lecture.

The lecture titled, “Deepening Democracy for Integration and Development” is billed to hold on Saturday, May, 27.

Mustapha spoke while reeling out activities lined up for the May 29 handover ceremony.

Other activities are The Regimental Dinner in honour of the Commander in Chief at the Armed Forces Officers Mess slated for May 23; Valedictory Federal Executive Council Meeting Council Chambers at Presidential Villa on Wednesday, May 24, 2023; Public Lecture and Jumaat Prayer at the National Mosque on Friday, May, 26; Children’s Day Parade and Children’s Party on May, 27 and Inter-denominational Church Service at the National Christian Centre on May 28.

Also, Inauguration Dinner/Gala Night at the State House Conference Centre is billed for May 28; On Monday, May 29, 2023, Inauguration Parade/Swearing-In will be held at Eagle Square.

There will also be a Post Inauguration Luncheon strictly for the President with brother Presidents, Heads of Government, and his guests at the State House Banquet Hall on May 29.

Mustapha disclosed that the theme for the inauguration is “NIGERIA: Better Together”.

He said, “The upcoming event is historically significant to this great nation and the international community, particularly Africa because of the democratic values and lessons in nationhood. For these reasons, we have chosen, ‘NIGERIA: Better Together’, as the theme for the 2023 transition.

I am delighted to inform you that May 29, 2023, will mark the 7th consecutive democratic transition of power in Nigeria and on that day, we shall all be ushering in the 16th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.