The election petition tribunal sitting in Jos, Plateau State capital, on Friday, sacked the speaker of the state house of assembly, Hon Moses Sule.

The speaker, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was sacked alongside Danjuma Azi, member representing Jos North West constituency in the assembly.

The tribunal, however, declared the former majority leader of the house, Hon. Naanlong Daniel and Hon. Mark Na’ah, all of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as winners of March 18 election.

The petitioner had challenged the sponsorship of the Sule and Azi on the grounds that the PDP was not qualified to participate in the election for lack of party structure.

Delivering the judgment, the tribunal led by Muhammad Tukur said PDP was not qualified to sponsor the respondents for the election.

He held that as the party did not have structure, “nothing can stand on nothing”.

The tribunal further held that the PDP disobeyed the order of Justice S P Gang of Plateau State High Court delivered on November 26, 2020 which ordered the party to conduct ward congresses.

Justice Tukur said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to tendered any authentic document that showed there was repeated congress by the party in 2021, as claimed by the respondents.

Tukur-led panel had sacked two PDP lawmakers of the state assembly, on Thursday.

[DailyTrust]

Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has thrown out the petition filed by former Deputy President, Senate Ovie Omo-Agege of the All Progressive Congress, APC, challenging the victory of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the March 18 election.

The Justice C.H. Ahuchaogu-led gave the ruling on Friday.

The petition was dismissed on the grounds that it contained unsubstantiated allegations.

The court also noted that it was devoid of merit and was speculative.

Omo-Agege came second in the March 18 election.

He is challenging the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to declare Oborevwori the winner of the election.

The judges are yet to decide on the cases between the Labour Party (LP) and the PDP, as well as the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the PDP.

[DailyPost]

President Bola Tinubu has been advised by the United States chapter of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) to resign and save the country from embarrassment.

Naija News reports that the group gave the advice in a statement issued on Monday, September 25, 2023, while reacting to the controversy surrounding the academic records of the President.

NADECO stated that the controversy has caused the Chicago State University to find itself on the precipice of disrepute, teetering on the brink of losing international credibility and accreditation.

The group also condemned the present socio-economic challenges that Tinubu’s government’s failed policies brought upon Nigerians, asking him to resign and save the country from irreprehensible damage.

The statement reads: “Nigeria is in the throes of a deep international image, domestic and regional crisis-bleeding profusely on both national and international stages. It is a nation held in disdain presently at the international stage; its economy is in shambles, and its people are hungry for change.

“Presently, a dollar is a stone’s throw from a thousand naira. Even institutions like Chicago State University find themselves on the precipice of disrepute, teetering on the brink of losing international credibility and accreditation, all due to the wake of destruction left by Tinubu’s unwavering pursuit of his questionable presidency.

“This perilous journey, fuelled by one man’s relentless ambition, has led to the heartbreaking ignorance of the collective suffering of Nigerians by Tinubu and the APC.

“In a plea to rescue Nigeria from the clutches of Tinubu’s questionable ambitions, NADECO USA implores Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu to liberate himself and the over 200 million Nigerians from the impending implosion.

“If Tinubu chooses to resign, perhaps Nigerians will find it in their hearts to forgive, and the secrecy legacy he leaves behind at CSU may no longer bear the stain of his political pursuits. He should be advised to do the needful.”

In order to curb maternal mortality rates among adolescents, the Ogun State Primary Health Care Development Board in collaboration with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is engaging health workers in some selected higher institutions of learning on ways to safeguard reproductive health of students.

Speaking during a visit to the Director of Health Services, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ijebu, Dr. Olugbenga Okusanya, which was preceding a 2-day training for the institution’s health workers, the Executive Secretary of the Board, Dr. Elijah Ogunsola, said the State government with the support of partners were passionate about student's wellness and wellbeing.

Dr. Ogunsola, according to the Board's Press Officer, Mrs. Fatimah Alatishe, was accompanied by the UNFPA team and other Board officials stated that a good ambience should be provided for students with essential reproductive health information that would guide them against unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion and maternal death.

The Board Executive Secretary commended the institution for the quality healthcare services being provided for the students, urging it to include various family planning services into its clinical services for easy access by the students.

On his part, the lead representative of the UNFPA, Dr. Akin Akinbajo said the organisation would always promote abstinence as the availability of contraceptives was not to encourage them to be sexually active, adding that it was committed to supporting the State on different Sexual Reproductive Health Information and Services for young people and adolescents.

Dr. Akinbajo noted that ''training of health workers is necessary to build a cordial relationship with the students, to enable them have confidence in speaking up on their reproductive health''.

Responding, the Director Health Services of the institution, Dr. Olugbenga Okusanya, represented by his deputy, Dr. Olufemi Osho lauded the efforts of the Board and UNFPA for the initiative, assuring that the institution would make maximum use of the training and other tips.

An awareness rally was thereafter held to sensitize students on availability of sexual reproductive health contraceptives in the institution's health facility, while HIV counselling and testing was done, as well as distribution of male and female condoms.

A Nigerian legal luminary, Justice Tunde Ademola Bakre, has been appointed to serve on the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. This latest development further underscores the exceptional talent and expertise that Nigerians continue to showcase on the global stage.

This court encompasses a multitude of nations, including but not limited to Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and Granada, Barbados, Dominica, and several others. This appointment marks a significant milestone in Justice Bakre's illustrious career, further solidifying his reputation as a distinguished legal professional.

The Secretary to the Judicial and Legal Services Commission of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) revealed the appointment of Justice Bakre, a distinguished member of our own legal community.

The Commission has expressed its profound admiration for your exceptional skills and accomplishments. It has unequivocally affirmed that your esteemed background and extensive experience align seamlessly with the requirements of the judiciary.

Justice Bakre, a highly accomplished legal practitioner and former member of the prestigious Nigerian Bar Association Abuja, Unity Bar, has emerged as a prominent figure in the legal arena. Having been admitted to the bar in 1993, his journey towards excellence in the field of law has been nothing short of extraordinary.

In 2013, he was bestowed with the prestigious position of a judge at the Ogun State High Court. His exceptional legal acumen and expertise caught the attention of the National Judicial Council of Nigeria, who subsequently seconded him to the Judiciary of the Gambia in 2018, providing invaluable technical assistance.

In a display of commendable performance, he has been granted an extension for an additional three-year term, set to conclude in 2024, until his worthiness was called into question.

Hailing from Ogun State University, this individual is not only an alumnus but also a proud family man, blessed with the joys of marriage and fatherhood.

The National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Enugu, Friday, nullified the election of Mr Okey Mbah representing Nkanu East state constituency in the State Assembly.

Mbah is of the Peoples Democratic Party while his challenger is the Labour Party candidate in the March 18 poll, Okwudiri Nnaji.

The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Mbah as the winner of the election but the tribunal held that the process did not meet the provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act.

The three-man panel, led by Honourable Justice Adie Attoe Onyebueke, ordered a rerun in some polling units in Ugbawka and Owo wards.

According to the tribunal, the number of votes is higher than the number of registered and accredited voters in those areas and faulted the return by INEC. It therefore ordered INEC to conduct a rerun election in the affected polling units within 90 days.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director-general of the World Trade Centre, recently addressed Southeast governors at the ongoing Southeast summit on economy and security in Owerri, Imo State.

During her speech, she emphasized the need for unity among the governors to boost the region’s economy.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala praised the governors for taking steps to change the narrative but also highlighted the lack of unity among them. She acknowledged the high human resources of the Igbo people, both within the region and across the world.

The former Nigerian finance minister urged the Southeast governors to organize an investment forum to address the issues hindering progress in the region. She encouraged them to work together and avoid unnecessary conflicts.
pharmaceutical companies and vaccine producers to establish a market chain in the region, taking advantage of the privatization of power.

Furthermore, she appealed to the governors to utilize the abundant human resources of the Ndigbo community to support the development of high-quality schools by providing resources and assistance to professors. She also proposed leveraging the expertise of diaspora doctors to establish quality hospitals in the region.

The President, World Medical Association, Osahon Enabulele, on Thursday, said that for Nigeria to meet the World Health Organisation’s standard of ratio of doctors to patients, the country needed to have not less than 250,000 medical doctors in its employ.

Osahon, who spoke as a guest speaker at the public lecture organised by the Federated Chapel of the Edo Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), in Benin City, however, lamented that Nigeria had less than 100,000 doctors, a figure he said was grossly inadequate to meet the doctors-patients ratio.

“The present situation by international standards, a doctor should be assigned to less than 600 patients but in Nigeria’s case, a doctor attends to over 3,000. So Nigeria needs over 250,000 doctors to cope with the current reality”

“There is less than 100,000 registered doctor in Nigeria, let’s say it is 98,000 doctors according to the last update’.

“Out of these 98,000, only 50,000 are actually practicing in Nigeria,” Enabilele bemoaned.

The WMA president stressed that for Nigeria to have good healthcare system, there must be political commitment by the Nigerian leaders to meet the Abuja Declaration of dedicating 15 percent of its budget to healthcare provision.

He decried how political leaders in the country traveled abroad to queue up before seeing less qualified doctors to check blood pressure they could conveniently do Nigeria.

Enabulele, however, identified lack of funds, inadequate infrastructure, unemployment, workplace conditions, remuneration, brain drain, economy, inflation and ineffective healthcare among others as problems facing Nigeria’s health system.

“Because of these problems senior doctors, consultants are moving out of Nigeria in drove because of greater remuneration,” he said.

This, he said resulted in low quality of healthcare delivery in the country.

He called for improved political commitment, empowered healthcare work, improved working conditions, recognition of value and professional work of the medical practitioners, stop medical tourism for political leaders, make wages to be competitive to change the narrative in the health sector.

He said Nigeria government must create a better living condition for the people including the medical profession, saying a lots of people want to come back home when the country is better.

“There is need to establish Health Service Commission that would better administer the health system and drive medical man power, training, best human resource, develop plan among others,” he submitted.

Napoli say the club’s now-deleted social media post was not intended to mock Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen.

The TikTok post, which was subsequently deleted, showed Osimhen failing to score his spot-kick in the Serie A match with a high-pitched voice saying “gimme penalty please,” sparking a furious reaction from Roberto Calenda. Calenda, Osimhen’s agent had threatened legal action against Napoli after the video was published.

“(It is) A serious fact that causes very serious damage to the player and adds to the treatment that the boy is suffering in the last period between media trials and fake news,” he tweeted. “We reserve the right to take legal action and any useful initiative to protect Victor.”

But Napoli say the club did not intend any harm.

“Calcio Napoli, wishing to avoid any exploitation of the issue, point out that we never wanted to offend or mock Victor Osimhen, who is a treasure of this club,” a Thursday statement read.

“As proof of that, during the summer training retreat, the Club firmly rebuffed every offer that was received for the striker’s transfer abroad.

“Social media, in particular, TikTok, has always used an expressive form of language with a light heart and creativity, without wanting to, as in the case with Osimhen as a protagonist, have any intention of insult or derision.

“In any case, if Victor perceived any offence towards him, this was not what the club intended”.

‘Employing Diplomatic Avenues’

In the wake of the development, Osimhen who led the club to their first Scuddeto in three decades, deleted all Napoli-related posts on his Instagram account.

In the summer, the Nigerian who became an icon in Naples for his exploits, was a target for Manchester United and other clubs. But the Italian side turned down moves for the striker.

On Thursday, the Minister of Sports Development John Enoh expressed reservations over the matter.

“My office is trying to reach Victor Osimhen directly as well to understand first-hand the issues. We are committed to establishing the facts of the matter,” he wrote on his X account.

“Meanwhile, I am in touch with the Honorable Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, and the Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Italy, Ambassador Mfawa Abam.

“Together, we are employing diplomatic avenues with Italy for a more proper approach to looking into the matter as it is.”