Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu has said that his husband, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has deep love for Nigerians despite the economic hardship the citizens are experiencing.

The first lady made this known when she paid the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu a courtesy visit, according to a statement on Tuesday by her Media Aide, Busola Kukoyi.

She assured that President Tinubu would do well to address the challenges facing the country.

“I assure you that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will do well for this country.

“He loves Nigeria, he loves Nigerians and will do the best for them”.

On his part, Oba Akiolu urged Nigerians to be patient with Tinubu’s administration.

“All that I am saying and appealing is that we should pray for Nigeria and the president. We should be patient. Everything good needs prayers,” he said.

This comes as Nigerians grapple with high headline and food inflation which stood at 34.19 percent and 40.87 respectively.

Consequently, the purchasing power of Nigerians has continued to wane as hunger bites harder.

DAILY POST reports that Nigerians have planned a nationwide protest starting from August 1, 2024.

The police in Kogi has confirmed the arrest and detention of a police officer, Insp Aminu Mohammed, for alleged robbery and car theft.

The spokesman, SP Williams Ovye-Aya, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday.

”Mohammed, a crime officer with the “C” Division at 200 Unit, Lokoja, is cooling his heels at the A Division of the command.

“Already, the State Commissioner of Police (CP), Bethrand Onuoha, has ordered investigation into the involvement of the inspector in the crimes labelled against him,” Ovye-Aya said.

A reliable source told NAN that Muhammed was in police net for robberies around his duty station in Lokoja metropolis.

“The stolen car was found in the workshop of the policeman’s panel beater, Arome Moses, who was already working on changing the car colour at Ochadamu village.

“Those who know the vehicle and were aware of the robbery incident that occurred in the owner’s house on June 14 quickly raised an alarm upon sighting the car.

“An alarm was raised, and the panel beater was arrested by policemen of the Quick Response Unit (QRU) attached to the Police Area Command, Idah.

“On interrogation, the panel beater spilled the beans, and the officer was invited and apprehended.

“The car plate number had already been changed to an Abuja number just as a car dealer’s receipt was backdated to 2020 and presented by the officer as evidence that he bought it,” the source said. (NAN)

Thousands of students at the University of Ibadan have protested against a hike in school fees and other issues.

As early as 8 a.m., the visibly angry students moved in large numbers to all the entrances of the institution and blocked them.

Both academic and non-academic staff were locked outside the gates.

After blocking all the entrances, they moved from one faculty to another to ensure that academic activities were totally paralysed.

The students who warned sternly that there should be no video recording of the protest explained that the school management has not been fair to them.

Some of them who spoke with Vanguard said three issues compelled them to troop out.

A male student said, “We are protesting against injustice and insensitivity of the state school authorities to our plight.”

“You can imagine the authorities saying they will be shedding power henceforth, which means there are days we will be in darkness. How do they expect us to study?”.

“Secondly, they have hiked school fees astronomically to an unimaginable proportion. Do they want us to abandon our studies? Our parents are saying there is no money. Even feeding is difficult and we are still trying to wriggle out of this they are bringing hike in tuition fees. We cannot take this any longer. Enough is enough”.

“The third issue is the victimization of some of our colleagues who protested last time. The police have arrested them and up to now, they are still being detained for saying no to injustice. They are hurting us and they don’t want us to complain.”

Three female students who are in science said the situation is worse for them as they have to pay through their noses.

One of them said when she gained admission, she paid around N78,000 but now she is asked to pay over N300,000; some are paying N200,000.

The event disrupted the early take-off of a programme scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Department of Economics, CBN Hall.

The students went to the premises and shut all the gates, while a few staff members who managed to trek from the gates scampered for safety.

The national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, has revealed why corruption continues to thrive in Nigeria.

Ganduje, who spoke yesterday at a high-level meeting with national executives of political parties and other stakeholders in Abuja, organised by The Kukah Centre (TKC), said corruption thrives in the country because of its weak institutions.

The former Governor of Kano State said until this circle is broken and the institutions, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and political parties, are made strong again; corruption will continue in the country.

Ganduje further attributed political corruption to dishonest poor Nigerians and others.

Ganduje emphasized that pointing fingers at politicians and public officeholders would not resolve the problem of weak institutions in Nigeria.

The APC chieftain, who is embroiled in a series of corruption cases in Kano, said, “The major problem we have in Nigeria is that of weak institutions because we are just going on an atrocious circle. Unless we break that circle and make our institutions strong, we are just blaming the politicians. Political parties are also weak, and because of that weakness, corruption thrives.

“Let us not be blaming the politicians, officeholders, those who win elections. Yes, we blame them but let us look at the security system, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that oversees the election.

“These institutions man the polling booths. So tell me, can you win an election free? Even the poor man is not honest. If we are to go into details of what happens practically, you will see voters saying they cannot vote until they are paid.’’

All Is A Work In Progress – Bishop Kukah Says

On his part, the founder of The Kukah Centre (TKC), Bishop Mathew Kukah, who led a panel discussion, advocated for the importance of reflecting on past errors and using them as a foundation to strengthen institutions and democracy in Nigeria via various methods.

He said, “Whether it is the judiciary or bureaucracy, all is a work in progress, and the most important thing is for us to learn the mistakes of the past and then develop the mechanism for ensuring that things don’t continue to repeat themselves.

“So, if you ask who built institutions? Institutions are supposed to be a mirror reflecting the aspirations, the fears, the hopes and the anxieties of an entire people. That means that for the police to become an institution and for the bureaucracy to become an institution, Nigerians must collectively and individually learn to say no to things going contrary to the principles of that institution.

“So, I think it is everybody’s business really for Nigeria to have stronger institutions.’’

Bishop Kukah commended the European Union for strengthening democracy in Nigeria, especially in developing the Political Party Management Toolkit (PPMT).

The Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday, dismissed a lawsuit that sought the removal of Arabic inscriptions from naira notes.

Justice Yellin Bogoro ruled against the suit filed by Lagos-based lawyer, Malcolm Omirhobo, who argued that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) used Arabic inscriptions in bad faith.

Omirhobo filed the suit in 2020, arguing that the presence of Arabic inscriptions on naira notes depicted Nigeria as an Islamic state, which contradicted the country’s constitutional status as a secular state.

Omirhobo, who said he could not understand the Arabic inscriptions, had asked the court to direct the CBN to replace them with English or one of Nigeria’s three main indigenous languages: Hausa, Yoruba, or Igbo.

He contended that the Arabic inscriptions violated sections 10 and 55 of the Nigerian Constitution, which established Nigeria as a secular state.

He asked the court to restrain the CBN from “further approving, printing and issuing naira notes with Arabic inscriptions, bearing in mind that Nigeria is a secular state.”

In response, the CBN filed a counter-affidavit, asserting that the Arabic (Ajami) inscriptions on the naira notes did not carry any religious significance or suggest any alignment with Arabian culture.

The CBN clarified that these inscriptions, dating back to the colonial era, were retained to assist those without Western education, particularly in regions where Arabic script was widely understood.

“The inscriptions on the country’s currencies do not and at no time have they threatened the secular statehood of the nation nor have they violated the Constitution of Nigeria, as every design and inscription was finalised with the approval of the relevant government bodies,” the apex bank said.

The CBN explained that the “Ajami inscriptions” on the naira notes dated back to the colonial era “and they do not imply that Arabic is an official language in Nigeria.”

The CBN explained that the naira notes have featured Ajami inscriptions since 1973 when the currency’s name changed from pounds to naira. The bank emphasized that removing these inscriptions would incur significant costs for taxpayers and the Federal Government.

The apex bank said, “The naira notes retained the inscriptions with Ajami since 1973 when the name of the Nigerian currency was changed to naira from pounds.

“The Ajami was inscribed on the country’s currency by the colonialists to aid those without Western education in certain parts of the country, who, back then, constituted a larger part of the populace.

“The Ajami is not a symbol or mark of Islam but an inscription to aid the populace uneducated in Western education in ease of trade.”

In his judgment, Justice Bogoro acknowledged Omirhobo’s legal standing to file the suit but determined that he failed to prove the CBN acted in bad faith by including Arabic inscriptions on the naira notes. Consequently, the court dismissed the suit.

Although the suit was dismissed, Omirhobo noted that the judge advised the CBN to consider removing Arabic inscriptions from the ₦200, ₦500, and ₦1,000 notes, given that they have already been removed from the ₦5, ₦10, ₦50, and ₦100 notes.

The judge highlighted that Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country where no religion should be deemed superior.

Omirhobo has also filed a similar suit against the Nigerian Army, seeking the removal of Arabic inscriptions from its logo. The Army, like the CBN, has opposed the suit and requested its dismissal.

MultiChoice Nigeria has officially revealed that the winner of the 2024 Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) reality TV show will take home a grand prize of ₦100 million.

Naija News reports that this announcement was made during a press briefing in Lagos on Tuesday.

The Executive Head of Content and West Africa Channels at MultiChoice, Busola Tejumola, disclosed the details, stating that the new season will premiere on Sunday, July 28, at 7 PM WAT, airing across all Africa Magic channels.

This year’s prize amount is ₦20 million less than the ₦120 million awarded in the previous season. In addition to the cash prize, the winner will also receive a brand new SUV.

“After 71 days of intense competition, on October 6, 2024, a total prize of ₦100 million and a new SUV will be awarded,” Tejumola announced.

The decrease in prize money follows Ilebaye Odiniya’s victory, who won ₦120 million during the all-stars season in October 2023.

“This season will introduce new twists and fresh housemates who are set to become fan favorites.

“Viewers can expect surprising twists, dramatic moments, and unexpected alliances throughout the season,” the organizers stated.

Auditions for the ninth season took place from March 27 to May 4, and the organizers have promised a season filled with “double drama, relationships, and fierce competition,” with participants competing in pairs.

Delta state high court sitting in Asaba has sentenced one Onuwa Olise Ijie to death and another, Nwanozie Uzor to 14 years imprisonment respectively for the murder and conspiracy to commit murder of twin boys, seven-year-old Chidalu and Chigozie Olise Agwunobi.

The court, presided over by Honourable Justice Onome Marshal Umukoro heard from the Prosecution how on March 5, 2020, the twin of the family of Olise Agwunobi of Oko- Ogbele Community in Oshimili south council area of the state were lured by the defendants to a bush and cut off their penis, eyes, tongues and hands which they hurriedly took to a native doctor to Aguleri, Anambra State.

According to the prosecution, one of the defendants had earlier gone to the school of the twin children to take them but was turned down by the school teacher, one Mrs Emelda Ogugua Ezekwude.

The Prosecution conducted by a Deputy Director in the Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Paula Akpoguma in proof of the case called 5 witnesses.

Six witnesses testified in the case.

They include a 15-year-old Iweka Ajie, a younger brother to one of the defendants who came to testify via video link but at the last minute out of fear, refused to adopt his deposition on oath.

However, the testimony of the other five witnesses proved the case against the two defendants beyond reasonable doubt.

Delivering his judgment on Tuesday, Hon. Justice Marshal-Umukoro stated that after a careful evaluation of the evidence before him, the prosecution had discharged the burden of proof as the first defendant from his confessional statement was the person who sowed the seed of committing human rituals in the mind of the second defendant by giving the phone number of one Chukwudi Edemuzor who was alleged to be searching for twins to kill for money.

The court maintained that the law is settled that the testimony of an Investigating police officer is not hearsay evidence and the court can rely on it.

In a chat with journalists soon after the judgment, the Prosecuting counsel Mrs. Paula Akpoguma thanked the Court for upholding the cause of Justice and reaffirming that the Judicial system works.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, on Tuesday, threatened to shut down the country for a month in protest against plans by the National Assembly to deregulate the national minimum wage.

NLC’s threat came as the nation awaits a new national minimum wage following months of negotiations between Organised Labour, the Federal Government, and the Organised Private Sector.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero, declared the position of the union while speaking on the sidelines of the 67th Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association Annual General Meeting in Lagos.

Ajaero said, “As we are here, a Joint Committee of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Judiciary are meeting. They have decided to remove section 34 from the Exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list so that the state governors can determine what to pay you and so that there will be no minimum wage again. You cannot decide what you should earn.

“The very moment the House of Representatives and the Senate come up with such a law that will not benefit Nigerian workers, they will be their drivers and gatemen, and there will be no movement for one month. We cannot accept any situation where the governors and the National Assembly members will foist a slave wage on workers and force poverty on the citizens. Organised Labour will not accept it.”

The NLC president further stated that “We don’t have a situation where people determine their wages that amounts to some level of illegality. In the constitution, there is a provision for equal work for equal pay. If we go into job analysis and job evaluation, we may discover that a clerk here may be doing the same work as the clerk in Sokoto.

“The so-called decentralisation of wages to pay somebody here less than what the other person is receiving is against the concept of equity and equality before the law.”

According to the NLC president, the International Labour Organisation recognises wage as a national law, saying it is not for the sub-nationals.

The labour leader maintained that “every country has their minimum wage and some states are paying higher than the basic minimum wage, and that is the position of the law anywhere”.

However,  he said,  some people instigated by the governors were saying they would not be able to pay N60,000 even when their members were in the meeting with labour, saying this was being done in bad fate.

“We have put our members on notice that if these people succeed in coming up with such unpatriotic and obnoxious law. This democracy they are playing with, we have enough in this country in terms of hardship. Some people, based on their privileged positions want to inflict more Injuries on the workers and citizens of this country and that will not be accepted,” he stressed.

He added that the labour movement will not accept “slave wages”.

“Every worker in Nigeria across the country is seen as Nigerian workers and any attempt to discredit them in a federation will first be resisted by the NLC.

“There is no governor that is not receiving the same thing nationwide, they are not receiving according to their revenue in their states, but they want that of the workers to be so. So, the issue of using revenue as a basis for the payment of minimum wage is a lame one. If any governor is making that argument, then he doesn’t know what governance is all about,” he stated.

Such a governor, Ajaero emphasised, must use his capacity and acumen for the prosperity of the state.

“Governors can do better, and they should stop lamenting; because lamentation year in and year out that they can’t pay will not pay as far as there is a lot of money for them to control,” he cautioned.

Ajaero further argued that an average family of six live within N60,000 in a month and still go to work.

He submitted that NLC had proposed many options apart from the amount of the minimum wage, which if the government had addressed long before the removal of oil subsidies would have saved Nigeria from the current challenges.

Meanwhile, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Kingsley Chinda, said there is a proposal before the National Assembly Committees on Constitutional Review to move the minimum wage from the exclusive list to the concurrent legislative list.

The minority leader’s clarification came against the backdrop of Ajaero’s position that the parliament had begun moves to decentralise minimum wage to enable states fix what is convenient for them to pay.

Speaking exclusively with The PUNCH in Abuja on Tuesday, Chinda stated that there were different opinions and views on whether minimum wage issues should be on concurrent or exclusive list, noting that “There is a proposal to move it to concurrent list where  states could  legislate on labour matters.”

While noting that federal laws prevail when they clash with state laws, the Peoples Democratic Party stalwart, however, advised that labour matters should remain on the exclusive list.

He continued, “On minimum wage, the Federal Government should consider a minimum living wage for all workers, both public and private. States or firms can go above the set wage, but not below.

“Labour disputes should be standardised and industrial courts should have precedents. The implication of making it a state responsibility is that states will set up their own industrial courts.”

He also added that a decentralised system “will weaken the labour movement and affect checks on the government. Governors  are more likely to pocket the labour union in their states.”

According to him, international labour issues are treated on countries basis, stressing that “It will be complex if state labour groups become independent.”

The International Monetary Fund yesterday downgraded its forecast for Nigeria’s economic growth in 2024 to 3.1 per cent citing weaker growth recorded in the first quarter of the year, Q1’24.

The new forecast was contained in the July 2024 World Economic Outlook of the IMF released, yesterday.

The downgrade represents 0.2 percentage points below the earlier forecast of 3.3 per cent.

The downgrade followed weaker-than-expected Gross Domestic Product, GDP, and growth recorded by the country in Q1’23.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, showed that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth dropped, quarter-on-quarter, QoQ to 2.98 per cent in Q1’24 from 3.46 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023, Q3’23,

The IMF however retained its 3.0 per cent forecast for Nigeria’s economic growth in 2025.

As a result of the lower forecast for Nigeria’s economic growth, the IMF also downgraded its forecast for Sub-Saharan economic growth in 2024 to 3.7 per cent from the April WEO forecast of 3.8 per cent. It however raised its economic growth forecast for the region in 2025 to 4.1 per cent from 4.0.

“The forecast for growth in sub-Saharan Africa is revised downward, mainly as a result of a 0.2 percentage point downward revision to the growth outlook in Nigeria amid weaker than expected activity in the first quarter of this year,” the IMF said.

For the global economy, the IMF retained its growth forecasts of 3.2 per cent in 2024 and 3.3 per cent in 2025.

The IMF said: “The Global Economy in a Sticky Spot Global growth is projected to be in line with the April 2024 World Economic Outlook (WEO) forecast, at 3.2 per cent in 2024 and 3.3 per cent in 2025.

“However, varied momentum in activity at the turn of the year has somewhat narrowed the output divergence across economies as cyclical factors wane and activity becomes better aligned with its potential.

“Services price inflation is holding up progress on disinflation, which is complicating monetary policy normalization. Upside risks to inflation have thus increased, raising the prospect of higher-for-even-longer interest rates, in the context of escalating trade tensions and increased policy uncertainty.

“To manage these risks and preserve growth, the policy mix should be sequenced carefully to achieve price stability and replenish diminished buffers.”

Bauchi fixes LG poll for August 19, Kogi election holds October 19

Jigawa, Imo, Anambra, Abia, Katsina, Kebbi, Benue set for exercise

No fewer than 13 states have fixed dates for Local Government elections in the aftermath of last Thursday’s Supreme Court judgement which prohibited federal allocation to council being administered by caretaker committees.

The states that have commenced council poll preparations include Kaduna, Kogi, Bauchi, Katsina, Osun, Enugu, Benue, Rivers, Jigawa, Imo, Kebbi, Abia, and Anambra states.

On Tuesday, the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission scheduled the council poll for October 19, 2024.

The Supreme Court had declared it unconstitutional for state governors to hold funds allocated for the local government councils.

In the judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the seven-man panel held that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves.

The court delivered the landmark judgment in suit: SC/CV/343/2024, filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) against the 36 state governors.

The AGF had sued the state governors through their respective state attorneys-general.

The apex court declared that the government is divided into three tiers: federal, state, and local governments.

S’Court verdict

The court further declared that a state government had no power to appoint a caretaker committee and a local government council was only recognisable with a democratically elected government.

“A democratically elected local government is sacrosanct and non-negotiable,’’ the apex court declared, putting an end to the practice of appointing caretaker committees to run the councils by the state governors.

The court further asserted that the use of a caretaker committee by the state governments to administer the local government violated the 1999 Constitution.

The Supreme Court further affirmed that the local government areas should be governed by a democratically elected government but “The state by the abuse of their power has worked against this law.”

The court declared that the 36 state governors had no power  to dissolve democratically elected local government councils to replace them with caretaker committees.

“Such an act is unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void,’’ Agim stated.

The apex court barred the state governors from receiving, retaining or spending the local government allocation.

It said the practice of receiving and retaining local government funds by the states had gone on for too long, describing it as a clear violation of section 162 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

The court held that the 1999 Constitution states that any money leaving the federation account must be distributed to the three tiers of government.

It added that it is the local government administrations that should receive and manage funds meant for the local councils.

Agim declared, “I hold that the state’s retention of the local government funds is unconstitutional.

“Demands of justice require a progressive interpretation of the law. It is the position of this court that the federation can pay LGA allocations to the LGAs directly or pay them through the states.

“In this case, since paying them through states has not worked, justice of this case demands that LGA allocations from the federation account should henceforth be paid directly to the LGAs.”

Following the verdict which was widely applauded, the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Wale Edun, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) were reported to have scheduled a meeting for Tuesday (yesterday) with the Federal Accounts and Allocation Committee officials to discuss the implementation of the apex court verdict.

The PUNCH was unable to confirm if the meeting was held.

Kaduna LG poll

Announcing the date for the council poll at a meeting with political parties and other stakeholders on Tuesday, the Kaduna SIECOM Chairperson, Hajara Mohammed, explained that the current council officials members were sworn into office on November 1, 2021, and would end their three-year tenure on October 31, 2024.

She said, “The current council members were sworn into office on 1 November 2021 and will end their three-year tenure on 31 October. KAD-SIECOM is responsible for organising the elections of chairpersons, vice-chairpersons, and councillors in the state.

“In consonance with the provision of section 25(1) of the KAD-SIECOM Law 2024, the general public is hereby informed that the LGA council election will be held in Kaduna on Saturday, 19th October 2024, between 8am  and 4pm

“The commission issues the election timetable today, Tuesday 16th July 2024. The 2024 election guidelines have been released with the election timetable KAD-SIECOM is ready to conduct the election on the set date.”

The Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission also announced October 19 for the local government election across the state.

Addressing a stakeholders’ meeting in Lokoja on Tuesday, the Chairman of the electoral commission, Mamman Eri, said the decision was in line with the provision of the Constitution and the powers vested in the state Independent Electoral Commission.

He explained that a comprehensive timetable and schedule of activities had been prepared to ensure a transparent, fair and credible electoral process.

“We assure you that these activities have been designed with utmost consideration for inclusivity, transparency and adherence to electoral laws,’’ he said.

According to the election timetable, a councillorship candidate will pay a N100,000 deposit while a chairmanship candidate will part with 250,000.

It prohibits a candidate who has been dismissed from public service or private employment from contesting for any of the elective positions.

Also, anyone who has been found guilty of an offence involving narcotics or any other psychotropic substance by any court or tribunal cannot contest the poll.

Eri appreciated the continued support and collaboration towards the success of the election.

Also, the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission has fixed August 19 for the local government elections in the state.

The Chairman of the commission, Alhaji Ahmad Makama, who disclosed this at a news conference on Tuesday in Bauchi, said all necessary arrangements had been concluded to ensure free and fair elections.

He reiterated the commitment of the commission to conduct a credible and transparent election, urging citizens to come out and vote for their preferred candidates across the parties on election day.

He denied alleged rigging plans, noting that previous elections were free and fair.

Makama said the commission had organised a series of meetings with political parties, security chiefs and relevant stakeholders, as part of the election preparations.

NAN quoted the chairman to have urged the public to support the commission to ensure hitch-free local government elections.

It was learnt that Katsina, Kebbi, and Benue have also set machinery in motion to conduct the local council polls.

The exercise will take place in Enugu on October 5, while Benue will conduct the council poll on  November 16.

Others are Kebbi, August 31; Rivers, October 5; Kwara and Imo, September 21.

Katsina has announced February, while Osun will conduct the poll on February 22, 2025.

Ondo election postponed

However, the preparation for the council election in Ondo State has been put on hold

Announcing this on Monday, the Chairman of the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission, Dr Joseph Aremo, regretted that no single political party complied with the guidelines of the proposed election, despite the issuance of guidelines for the election.

This would be the second time the commission would postpone the election earlier fixed for February and later shifted to July 2024.

Before the latest postponement, the commission had earlier scheduled the council poll for July 13, 2023.

Following the expiration of the tenure of the last executive of the local governments in August 2023, heads of local government administration had been at the helm of affairs in the 18 local government areas of the state.

Addressing stakeholders from various political parties in the state, in Akure, Aremo stated, “Ours is to conduct an election that will usher in a democratic government at the local level. It’s unfortunate that no single party complied with the guidelines for the election.

“We have yet to receive the nomination of candidates, yet to verify and release it to the public for scrutiny.”

Aremo added that the commission would go back to the drawing board and make its position known at a later date.

Reacting, the Ondo State Chairman of the Inter-party Advisory Council, Adesanya Olaoluwa, admitted that all political parties agreed to the terms, knowing that no election could take place without them.

He said, “They now know our reasons. We want to see Mr Governor. It is not that we don’t have trust in ODIEC. We know that they can conduct credible election but we want to see Mr Governor,” he noted.

However, the People’s Democratic Party said that the ODIEC had postponed the elections because the All Progressives Congress was no longer popular in the state.

The state Publicity Secretary, Mr Kennedy Peretei, said, “We knew all along that ODIEC will not conduct the LG election because the APC is not on the ground.”