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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday, announced that the February 25 presidential election results would be collated at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja.

INEC also named its chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, as the chief electoral officer for the presidential election.In a statement by National Commissioner in charge of Publicity and Chairman, Voter Education, Festus Okoye, the commission said after a meeting of the situation room, it was resolved that the ICC would serve as the venue for the exercise.Okoye said,

“The commission has established two committees for this purpose. First, is the Collation Secretariat, where presidential results from the states will be collated.

“This will be headed by the chairman of the commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, in exercising his constitutional responsibilities as the Chief Electoral Commissioner of the Federation and Returning Officer for the presidential election. In addition, a few technical staff will assist him.“The second is the Situation Room and Collation Centre Committee, which shall be responsible for the preparation of the venue, seating arrangement, utilities and services, security, the accreditation of party agents, as well as the national and international observers, media, etc.

“The committee has the following membership: Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu, National Commissioner, Chairperson; Professor Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, National Commissioner; Festus Okoye, National Commissioner; Director, Electoral Operations; Director, ICT; Director, Planning and Monitoring; Director, Security; Director, Election and Party Monitoring; Director, International Cooperation Protocol, as members.

He also said the situation room and collation centre committees were inaugurated by Yakubu, who charged them to commence work in earnest and to discharge their responsibilities diligently.

Meanwhile, INEC said as part of efforts to ensure effective collection of the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) in the 774 local government areas, it was devolving PVC collection to the 8,809 registration areas/wards from Friday 6th to Sunday 15th of January 2023.Okoye further said all validly registered voters, who were yet to collect their PVCs were encouraged to seize the opportunity of the devolution to the wards to do so.

He stated, “After the 15th of January 2023, the exercise will revert to the local government offices of the Commission until 22nd January 2023. All eligible and valid registrants can collect their PVCs from 9.00am to 3.00pm daily, including Saturdays and Sundays.

“All those that applied for replacement of lost, damaged, or defaced PVCs can collect their PVCs at the registration area/wards during this period and the same thing applies to those that registered prior to the 2019 general election and are yet to collect their cards.

“The PVCs of those that applied for transfer are available for collection in the local governments and registration areas, where they intend to vote and not in the state or local government, where they carried out the transfer.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced online accreditation for Journalists and media organisations wishing to cover the 2023 general elections.

According to the flier issued by INEC on Thursday in Abuja, interested media organisations wishing to deploy journalists to cover the election are to apply via: https://imap.inecnigeria.org.

It stated that the portal would be accessible from Thursday, Jan. 5 to Sunday, Feb. 5.

“Late submission shall not be entertained as the portal will automatically shut down on Sunday. Feb. 5 at 5pm.

“There shall be no manual accreditation.

For further enquiries, INEC advised media organisations to contact Chinwe Ogbuka – 08033141836; Nathaniel Gana – 08033802792; and Patience George – 08032861058.

The Vatican has disclosed how Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, will be buried on Thursday.

The information was contained in a post via its verified Twitter handle.

The Vatican said the coffin of Pope Emeritus was closed on Wednesday based on tradition.

Recall that emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger in Marktl, Southeastern Germany on April 16, 1927, died on 31 December, 2022. He was 95 years old. Before his death, he had encountered a sudden decline in his health due to age.

“Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s coffin was closed in a ritual held Wednesday evening. As per tradition, the Pope Emeritus’ pallia, coins and medals minted during his pontificate, and a ‘rogito’ summarizing the highlights of his papacy, were also placed inside the casket.

“Following the Requiem Mass, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s coffin will be transported through the Basilica and to the Vatican crypt for burial, in the first tomb of John Paul II.

“He will be buried in the traditional triple coffin, with caskets made of cypress wood, zinc, and oak,” part of the statement read.

Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi has appointed a former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Akin Osuntokun, as the new Director General of his campaign council.

Osuntokun’s appointment was announced by the party’s national chairman, Julius Abore, at a press briefing on Tuesday, December 27.

He said that the new DG was chosen at a strategic meeting of the party, which had Obi, members of the National Working Committee and the party’s candidates for other elective positions in attendance.

According to Abure, Osuntokun is a “worthy and trustworthy” replacement for Doyin Okupe, the former DG of the campaign council.

Osuntokun served as Political Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and as Director of the Presidential campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2011.

He is a political scientist, strategist, researcher, administrator, journalist and writer with experience in media advocacy, policy research and implementation and political analysis.

Until his appointment, he was the Zonal Coordinator of the LP Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in the South-West

It would be recalled that Okupe resigned from his position earlier this month following his conviction by an Abuja Federal High Court for money laundering.

Okupe was found guilty for receiving over N200 million cash from former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki, in violation of the Money Laundering Act.

The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, has revealed that 20 people were killed on Boxing Day in road crashes recorded in Oyo and Niger States.

The Acting Corps Marshal of the Corps, Dauda Ali Biu, revealed this after a preliminary investigation conducted into fatal crashes at Ibadan, Oyo State, Mokwa in Niger State, and Otukpo in Benue State, on Tuesday.

The agency attributed the deaths to overspeeding, reckless driving and dangerous behaviours exhibited by drivers.

The FRSC boss decried incessant violation of speed limits and noticeable traces of dangerous driving behaviours exhibited by drivers during the Christmas celebrations and warned perpetrators of such bad road use culture to desist henceforth as the Corps will not spare them when apprehended.

He also pointed to the hazards of night journeys as two of the three crashes occurred during the early hours of the day.

The FRSC report said on Tuesday, there were crashes along the Ibadan-Lagos route, “a few minutes drive before Gurumaraji area, Oyo State at 6:30 am while the Mokwa fatal crash occurred at 3:30 am and the Otukpo lone crash took place at exactly 11:35am.”

It added, “the Ibadan avoidable menace is a lone crash that involved a Toyota Bus bearing the following registration details TRK135ZY.

“The Mokwa crash involved a trailer transiting from Lagos which had a head-on collision with a Bus and the Otukpo lone crash involving a bus registered as NAK77XA which occurred as a result of a fallen tree that blocked the highway,” according to a statement issued by Bisi Kazeem, Corps Public Education Officer, who communicated the delivery of the report by Biu.

The statement noted that “18 people ( all Male Adults) were involved in the Ibadan crash, out of which 10 were killed, 6 injured and the rest rescued without any injuries.

“In the same vein, as at the time of filing this report, 10 victims were killed in the Mokwa crash, 9 of which were confirmed dead on the spot and the remaining 1 victim died in the hospital.”l

”While zero fatality was recorded in the Otukpo lone crash, the injured victims have been taken to St. Daniels Hospital Otukpo for urgent treatment,” the report said.

The statement further said the 6 victims who were rescued with different degrees of injuries in the Ibadan crash were given adequate first aid by the Corps’ medical rescue team before moving them to the Ibadan Central Hospital for proper medical attention.

The remains of those killed were deposited in Adeoyo General Hospital Morgue in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The Acting Corps Marshal who frowned at the incident assured the motoring public, particularly law-abiding ones, that the Corps has enhanced its visibility and intensified patrol operations that will engender sanity on the highways.

He directed the immediate deployment of a special squad to the affected part of the Otukpo-Makurdi highway to ensure the speedy removal of the fallen tree as well as a traffic control team to ensure free flow of traffic.

He admonished the public to always patronize the FRSC toll-free line 122 and the National Traffic Radio 107.1 FM which are always available for all road users to report emergencies at any given time.

Women in the Niger Delta Region have intensified campaigns against climate change and the harmful effects on women in the area and the environment.

The Executive Director, Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, Obonganwan Emem Okon made their position known recently, during the 7th edition of  Niger Delta Women Day of Action for Environmental  Justice 2022, held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Okon said the NGO and her allied community women organizations marked the Niger Delta Women’s Day of Action for Enironmental Justice.

The day, according to her is usually held every December 17 as a way to also contribute to the building of a grassroot eco – feminist movement in the oil rich region.

She maintained that the campaigns so far has contributed to strengthening solidarity building among groups across the communities, amplifying women’s voices on the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), oil revenue benefits of the 13 percent derivation fund among other laudable impacts made by the women of the region.

Okon noted that despite the disproportionate impacts of pollution and environmental degradation, women are not included in the processes of benefit sharing in the oil and gas sector, but yet women were impacted more from the effects of climate change and called on relevant government agencies to right the wrongs.

In his paper presentation at the event on climate reality: impact of the 2022 flood on women and sustainable solutions, Bayelsa based environmentalist, Mr Godson Dorgu, argued that majority of the people have come to the realization that climate change is real.

He said after the 2012 flood, most persons postulated it would take a very long time for such flood to reoccur, adding that women were the most vulnerable in any disastrous situation.

The environment expert noted that flooding incidents are often accompanied by a number of socio – economic problems that affect the women more, thus, the family depends on the women during flood and also stated that the impact of any emergency is worst on women.

The event which was celebrated on the theme, Flooding in the Niger Delta: Causes, Effects and Solutions also featured songs by Akwa Ibom and Ogoni women, solidarity messages from Professor Robito Ekanem of the University of Calabar, the representative of Oxfam, Mr Henry  Usher and the state coordinator of WANEP, Mr Peace Edem.

Highlights of the event include demonstrations by some women groups in the Niger Delta, a panel discussion on women’s livelihood in the Niger Delta, women organizing stories, drama by the Theater Arts Department at the University of Port Harcourt, among others.

The Director-General of the Labour Party Campaign Council, Doyin Okupe has resigned his position.

The development was contained in a letter he addressed to the LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi on Tuesday.

Sharing the letter on his official Twitter handle, Okupe wrote, “It’s time to step aside. But I am with PO and the Obidients and the Presidential Campaigns till God gives us victory in Jesus Name”.

Okupe’s resignation followed his conviction for breaching the Money Laundering Act by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday.

The Labour Party chieftain, who was formerly a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was subsequently sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

However, the presiding judge, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, gave Okupe an option of N500,000 fine on each of the 26 count charges, totalling N13m for which he was found guilty.