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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.

The Federal Government on Tuesday said it will abolish kerosene lighting in Nigeria by 2030.

President Muhammadu Buhari, revealed this during a message delivered at the 15th Annual Banking and Finance Conference organized by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.

He said the plan would help to address the problems associated with climate change as well as eradicate short-lived pollutants in the oil and gas sector of the economy.

Nigeria’s quest for energy transitioning is to develop its natural gas for the export market.

Represented by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, the President said that “long-term greenhouse emissions have resulted in hotter temperatures, more severe rainstorms, increased drought and food security issues.

To tackle this issue, the government has set plans in motion to significantly reduce greenhouse emissions from Nigeria. More specifically, by 2030 we aim to eliminate Kerosene Lighting as well as Short-Lived Pollutants in the Oil and Gas sector.”

Buhari noted that the government will continue to cushion the adverse effects of inflation through its social safety net programmes, stressing that for a developing country like Nigeria, he said the effects of inflation are felt more strongly by less privileged citizens.

He attributed the raging inflation across the world to pent-up consumer demand after the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking on the theme of the conference, the President noted that repositioning the finance services industry involves valuable innovations to ensure global solutions reach local indigenous customers.

In repositioning itself, President Buhari urged the finance sector to “serve not just as an intermediary for lenders and borrowers but in creating a new ecosystem consisting of platforms where ordinary Africans can buy and sell their locally made products despite currency disparity.”

To this end, the President commended the regulators of the industry particularly the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) “for their diligent work which has ensured financial system stability in the country over the years.”

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.

The President, Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN) Prof. Taiwo Obindo that more than 60 million Nigerians are suffering from mental illnesses.

Obindo, who is also the Chairman, Faculty of Psychiatry, West African College of Physicians, Nigeria Chapter, said this in an interview with the Newsmen on Sunday in Abuja.

Mental healthcare is in a sorry state given that we have more than 60 million Nigerians suffering from various mental illnesses and the fact that only about 10 per cent of them were able to access appropriate care.

“We are left with more than 90 per cent who are unable to access care and this group is called the treatment gap for mental illnesses,’’ Obindo said.

He said the gap was as a result of various factors like the knowledge gap in which people do not have appropriate information about the causes and treatment for mental illnesses.

Obindo said some factors hindering the management of mental illness in Nigeria included myths and traditional beliefs; inadequate mental health facilities and number of mental health professionals.

According to him, the few available mental health facilities were located in the city centres.

“Knowing that 60 per cent of Nigerians live in the rural areas, they do not have access to appropriate care and have to travel long distances to access facilities,” Obindo said.

He also said that the number of mental health practitioners was low as it fell below the ratio recommended by the World Health Organization.

According to him, the few that were trained were often eager to leave the country.

“The environment in which we practice, the security situation and the remuneration that people were given in the country tend to push them out.

“And then of course, the pull factor from the developed countries where they tend to poach on the already trained medical practitioners in the country, particularly the psychiatrists,” he said.

Obindo said that the cost of hiring practitioners in low medium income countries was low; so ”it was easier for developed countries to poach the already made products rather than training such professional locally.”

He said there was the need for Nigeria to implement its Mental Health Policy on the practice of psychiatry.

Obindo added that although the document was last reviewed in 2013, it was not being implemented.

He said one major component of the policy was the integration of mental health into primary healthcare, which was yet to be achieved after nine years.

The psychiatrist added that the law operational in the country was the “lunacy act”, which was first enacted in 1916 and reviewed in 1958.

”The Mental Health Bill by the mental health stakeholders led by the Association of Psychiatrists of Nigeria (APN), in conjunction with the National Assembly and the Ministry of Health was yet to be assented to by the President.

”This is the most recent effort in 30 years,” he said