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Egypt Presidential election: Sisi likely to secure a third term

By
Mana Balagbogbo
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FILE PHOTO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 26, 2023. Sputnik/Alexei Danichev/Pool via REUTERS

Egyptians went to the polls on Sunday in a presidential election overshadowed by war in neighbouring Gaza and with little doubt the incumbent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi would secure a third term.

In a country gripped by the most severe financial crisis in its recent history — inflation has hovered near 40 percent after the currency lost half its value and drove up the cost of imports — the economy is at the centre of Egyptians’ concerns.

Even before the current crisis, about two-thirds of the country’s nearly 106 million people were living on or below the poverty line.

Voting will take place until Tuesday, between 9:00 am and 09:00 pm (0700-1900 GMT) each day, with the official results announced on December 18.

In front of one Cairo polling station, posters bore messages to “get out and participate” while a DJ played nationalist songs.

Some 67 million people are eligible to vote, five million of whom had cast their ballots by 4:30 pm (1430 GMT) on Sunday, according to a statement from the National Election Authority.

Turnout is expected to be a key indicator of public sentiment in an otherwise uncompetitive election. Last time, it fell six points to 41.5 percent.

Casting her ballot in the western Cairo district of Dokki, Asmaa Refaat, a voter in her forties, said she “doesn’t know the other candidates”.

“I only know President Sisi,” she said, calling on the winner “to change our lives for the better and ease inflation”.

Annual inflation is at 38.5 percent, with food price rises alone hitting 45.2 percent, official figures showed on Sunday.

Voter Fathi Ali, 79, said he “only asks that the next president ensures full health insurance”.

Despite Egypt’s afflictions, a decade-long crackdown on dissent has eliminated any serious opposition to Sisi.

Under his rule, Egypt has jailed thousands of political prisoners.

New Administration: Argentina’s President Javier Milei has warned the country to prepare for severe economic shock

By
Mana Balagbogbo
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Argentina’s new President Javier Milei has warned his country’s people to prepare for painful austerity measures as he seeks to turn around decades of economic stagnation and decline.

Taking office on Sunday after his upset election last month, Milei used his inaugural address to prepare Argetinians for the short-term hardship he insists is necessary to fix the biggest crisis in the country’s history.

In a break with tradition, the 53-year-old economist delivered his speech to supporters with his back turned to the legislature.

“There is no alternative to a shock adjustment,” Milei said after taking the presidential baton and sash. “There is no money.”

Guests at the inauguration included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, right-wing former Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro, Uruguay’s conservative leader Luis Lacalle Pou and Chile’s leftist President Gabriel Boric.

Latin America’s third-largest economy, which has stumbled between crises for decades, is grappling with annual inflation of higher than 140 percent and a 40 percent poverty rate.

The country owes $45bn to the International Monetary Fund.

Milei, who is known for hard-right libertarian views, has promised a series of radical measures to fix the economy, including spending cuts equivalent to 5 percent of the economy and switching the Argentinian peso for the United States dollar.

A self-described “anarcho-capitalist”, Milei on Sunday reiterated that the state would shoulder the burden of getting the country’s finances in order.

“We know that in the short term, the situation will worsen, but soon we will see the fruits of our effort, having created the base for solid and sustainable growth,” he said.

In one of his first actions in office, Milei announced on social media that he had signed a decree to slash the number of ministries by half, from 18 to nine.

Milei, whose abrasive style has drawn comparisons with former US President Donald Trump, rose to fame with his diatribes against the “thieving” political class and invocations of Argentina’s “golden age” during the early 20th century.

His anti-establishment message struck a chord with Argentinians, particularly young men, after successive governments presided over the country’s decline from one of the richest economies to a cautionary tale of economic mismanagement.

Milei decisively beat former Economic Minister Sergio Massa of the centre-left Peronist coalition in a run-off election on November 19.

Still, Milei will need to negotiate with rivals to govern effectively as his coalition bloc lacks a majority in the legislature.

There have been signs that the political maverick could soften his more radical positions in office.

His cabinet includes mainstream conservatives in favour of ideological libertarians, while talk of shutting the central bank and dollarisation has dissipated in recent weeks.

Ondo Politics: Clark emphasizes how urgent Tinubu must address crisis

By
Mana Balagbogbo
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Leader of Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark on Sunday urged President Bola Tinubu to adopt former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon’s eminent persons’ doctrine of necessity as the only way of resolving the political crisis in Ondo State.

Clark, in an open letter to President Tinubu, urged him to act fast to curb the crisis in the state just as he likened the situation to when late President Umaru Yar’Adua was sick and the Senate came up with the doctrine of necessity to tackle the situation.

The letter, entitled ‘urgent need to resolve the Ondo State impasse’, reads: “My letter may come to you as a surprise because I am not from the South-West geo-political zone, Ondo State in particular. “But as a senior citizen of our dear country, I sincerely believe that we have a duty to give you support and advice in all ramifications, particularly in solving the insecurity issues facing the country, and anything that can escalate it, in all parts, especially in the North-West. Every effort, should, therefore, be made, in this regard, to avert any crisis in any part of the country.

“The on-going impasse in Ondo State can be likened to what happened when our dear late President, Yar’Adua, was very ill and did not transmit a letter to the National Assembly in accordance with Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution, to enable the then Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to act as president.

“I wish to recall that during the time, the nation was almost grinding to a halt because there was no one administratively in charge of the affairs of the country. Various groups such as the Save Nigeria Group, led by Pastor Tunde Bakare and Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka; socio-cultural organisations, ethnic organisations including some northern group, the South-Western group led by Bishop Emmanuel Gbonigi, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, etc, rose to protest in Lagos and Abuja. It was as though the nation was rudderless.

“The Senate, under the leadership of David Mark, as Senate President, acted on the suggestion of the eminent persons group and declared Dr Jonathan, acting President under the Doctrine of Necessity on February 9, 2010. The House of Representatives followed suit by also adopting the Doctrine of Necessity. On February 10, 2010, Dr Jonathan was declared Acting President.

“At this time, our dear President Yar’Adua was still at Saudi Arabia receiving medical treatment. On February 24, 2010, President Yar’Adua was brought back to the country under the cover of darkness, still very ill, and taken to the Villa, unknown to the Acting President. However, while President Yar’Adua was at the Villa ‘recuperating’, Dr Jonathan continued to act as the President of the country. Unfortunately, President Yar’Adua could not make it. He died on May 5, 2010. On May 6, 2010, Dr Jonathan was sworn-in as President and Commander- in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, in accordance with constitutional provisions.

“Mr President I think there is need to act fast because we have seen that despite your good intentions, the crisis is brewing much tension rather than abating. There is a growing agitation for and against each of the parties.

“Like I stated earlier, this matter is building up tension. It is, therefore, my opinion that Mr President, as leader of his ruling APC political party, may want to amend his earlier terms of settlement. And since there is no constitutional provision for such quagmire, because under Section 5 (2) of the Constitution, the state governments are autonomous and are not subsidiaries of the central government.

“Let me add that beyond any constitutional provision and your leadership of your political party, the APC, it is Your Excellency’s moral obligation as father of the country to use your good office to intervene and resolve all manners of political crisis around the country.

“The action of the Ondo State House of Assembly by going to court to prevent the National Assembly from interfering in the matters of the State House of Assembly is also escalating the issues. I will continue to pray for your well being and success.”

COP28: LP Chair calls FG’s huge delegation insensitive

By
Mana Balagbogbo
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The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, on Saturday, said the controversy that trailed the huge delegation Nigeria took to the Climate Change Conference in the United Arab Emirates has shown that President Bola Tinubu is not ready to learn from the mistakes of the previous administration.

Abure raised the concern while receiving an award of excellence from the Benin chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association. The Federal Government received knocks recently following the revelation that it took a delegation of 1,411 to COP28.

The FG, through the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, however, said that it only funded 422 persons to the event.

But Abure said in a country where people are struggling with poverty and the current minimum wage is still being debated, it is insensitive of Tinubu’s government to embark on such a ‘jamboree.’

He said, “It is obvious that the government of President Tinubu and the APC are not willing to depart from the circumstances that have plunged the nation into economic quagmire in the past.

“How can a country that is borrowing money to pay workers’ wages, a country plagued by insecurity, battered by power collapse where investors are exiting the country by the day fritter away such a humongous amount of resources on a jamboree?

“A sober government should have known that borrowing money to attend conferences while rich nations attended the same event with less than 20 persons bothered on insensitivity and brazen impunity. Nigerians have made their point and they are aware that the nation’s salvation lies with the Labour Party as we approach subsequent elections.”

Kaduna Bombing: Falana threatens FG over failure to compensate victims

By
Mana Balagbogbo
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Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has issued a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to compensate those who have fallen victims to military air strikes in the country in the past seven years.

Falana, who gave the condition in a statement on Sunday, said the Federal Government risked being sued before a Federal High Court if the demand is not met.

“The Federal Government should pay adequate compensation to the victims of all airstrikes that have occurred in Nigeria in the past seven years.

“If our demand is not met within the next two weeks, we shall sue the Federal Government at the Federal High Court to secure the enforcement of the fundamental right of the victims to life,” he said.

The Nigeria Air Force and Nigeria Army have between March 2014 and December 2023 dropped bombs which claimed the lives of hundreds in some states in the northern part of the country, according Falana.

In the most recent incident, no fewer than 80 people were killed in an erroneous air strike by the Nigerian Army at Tudun Biri in the Igabi Local Government of Kaduna State on December 3, 2023.

Falana, who is the Chairman of Alliance on Surviving Covid 19 and Beyond (ASCAB), lamented that there has been no compensation for the victims of these bombings over the years.

He noted that after January 17 Rann bombing in Borno, the Federal Government instituted a commission of enquiry headed by Justice Biobell Georgewill of the Court of Appeal, but said that nothing has come out of it up until now.

“The Commission was mandated to review extant rules of engagement applicable in the armed forces of Nigeria as well as the extent of compliance with the rules. Part of the mandate of the commission was to also prefer means of preventing violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.

“The Commission was given 90 days for the assessment. Our law firm represented the victims of the Rann airstrike at the Commission of Enquiry. Upon the conclusion of the assignment, the Commission submitted its report. But up until now, the federal government has neither published the report nor implemented the recommendations of the Commission.”

The Senior Advocate suggested that instead of setting up a new panel of enquiry, the Federal Government should publish the findings of the Georgewill Judicial Commission.

Rivers Political Crisis: 27 PDP Rivers Assembly Lawmakers decamp to APC

By
Mana Balagbogbo
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The ongoing political drama in Rivers State has taken a very interesting turn as 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).


A member of the Assembly, Enemi George, confirmed to Channels Television that the 27 lawmakers were under the leadership of Martin Amaewhule. He said the decision was taken during their sitting on Monday morning.


For weeks, Amaewhule and another member, Edison Ehie, have been embroiled in a Speakership tussle. Amaewhule is believed to be loyal to ex-governor Nyesom Wike while Ehie is known to be in the camp of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.


The Assembly under Amaewhule had in October served an impeachment notice on the governor and removed Ehie as the House leader. However, some members of the Assembly loyal to Fubara immediately impeached Amaewhule and made Ehie the new Speaker.

The crisis in the 32-member Assembly had begun as a result of a rift between Fubara and his predecessor, Wike, who is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Though the two politicians have both attended same public events in the last few weeks and all seemed to have been settled but with Monday’s defection of 27 lawmakers from the PDP to the APC, more drama might unfold in the state’s political arena.

Grealish Scores To Put Man City Back On Track After Luton Scare

By
Emenike Agu
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Jack Grealish ensured Manchester City ended their four-game winless run as the Premier League champions survived a scare from Luton in their 2-1 victory on Sunday.

With star striker Erling Haaland absent due to injury, Pep Guardiola’s side trailed to Elijah Adebayo’s goal late in the first half at Kenilworth Road.

But, after squandering a host of chances, City finally clicked into gear with two goals in three minutes after the break.

Silva equalised and Grealish bagged the winner to give City a much-needed first victory in five league matches.

After their lethargic 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Wednesday, which followed draws with Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham, City were in danger of falling out of the title race.

Liverpool’s win at Crystal Palace on Saturday had moved the leaders seven points clear of City.

But fourth-placed City responded with a gritty display to close the gap on Liverpool to four points.

City still have work to do to regain control of their bid for an unprecedented fourth successive top-flight title and Haaland’s fitness scare could not have come at a worse time.

Haaland, who had started all of City’s league matches this season, was sidelined with a foot injury that could impact his availability for the treble winners’ hectic Christmas schedule.

City boss Pep Guardiola said Haaland, who has 19 goals this season, noticed the injury after Wednesday’s defeat at Aston Villa.

Guardiola will be sweating on his fitness with City travelling to the FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia before returning for the busy festive programme.

Despite their lowly position, Luton have been a tough proposition at home on their return to the top flight after a 31-year absence.

They drew 1-1 with Liverpool, who needed a late equaliser to avoid defeat, and came within seconds of a point against Arsenal, before losing 4-3 on Tuesday.

On their first visit since 1998, City were the latest star-studded side to find an inhospitable welcome amid the terraced houses that surround tiny Kenilworth Road.

Nigeria Has No Football Team Now – Christian Chukwu

By
Emenike Agu
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Ex-Super Eagles captain and legend, Christian Chukwu, on Sunday, decried the state of Nigeria’s national football team, Super Eagles, saying that the nation doesn’t “have a national team now,” while the home-based players lack the opportunities to grow.

He opined that the team coach, Jose Peseiro, should be based in the country, and that would enable him to discover local talents and train them to become better players,  rather than coming from abroad to train the players for a match and then travelling back.

Chukwu expressed his concerns as a guest on the Channels Television programme, ‘Channels Sports Sunday.’

The former team captain said, “Our coach should come and stay with us in Nigeria. We have a lot of talents in Nigeria, in our local league and when you don’t camp and train them and forget about this we have a match, we come on Thursday, they train on Friday, they play on Saturday and they disperse again. We don’t have a team.

“Let’s come back home, all those playing overseas are good players. They have the opportunities, we have those players back home who are equally good but they don’t have that opportunity to go abroad and play and if you come here and discover them, let you be their manager and then expose them to the Europe people. We have players who are very good, better than the foreign-based players but they don’t have the opportunity.”

Chukwu, who also coached the Super Eagles from 2003 to 2006 said, “You have to come home and discover them and train them. I am not saying they should not be mixed with the foreign-based. Invite the foreign-based but give the home-based opportunity. They are the ones you can use to get anything you want to get.

“As far as I am concerned we don’t have a national team now because even our coaches stay abroad. He comes with the players to come and play and travel again. He should come and reside here, let us work together. We are ready to help him with whatever he wants to achieve.”

Despite guiding Nigeria to qualification for the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, the Portuguese has been in the headlines, owing to the poor form of the Super Eagles in recent matches.

In November, Peseiro told the Nigeria Football Federation Technical Committee not to teach him his job but rather pay him and his team their outstanding allowances.

Peseiro allegedly said this while reacting to the committee Chairman, Shariff Ahlan’s comment in the wake of his future as the Eagles coach, stating that the Eagles’ job is bigger than the Portuguese.

CAFCC: Rivers United Down Club Africain In Uyo

By
Emenike Agu
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0

Pride of Rivers claim second home win of group stage

Rivers United defeated Tunisian outfit Club Africain by a lone goal in their CAF Confederation Cup group stage meeting at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.

Having won their first game against APC do Lobito, Nigeria’s sole representatives lost their second game of the group phase in Ghana against Dreams FC last week by a scoreline of 2-1.

Tunisian outfit Club Africain came into the clash on the back of two successive wins over Dreams FC and APC do Lobito, which had them topping the group after the first two rounds of matches.

The match between both sides was keenly contested from the first whistle, with neither side able to break the deadlock. The game’s first and only goal came from the boot of the captain of the home side, Nyima Nwagua, in the 40th minute.

Rivers United held on to claim a second win of the group phase, taking them level on points with Dreams FC and Club Africain. They became only the third Nigerian side ever to defeat the Tunisian side.

Akwuegbu Tips Osimhen For African Best Player Award

By
Emenike Agu
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0

London based ex- Super Eagles striker, Benedict Akwuegbu has backed his compatriot or fellow countryman, Victor Osimhen to win the 2023 men’s African Player of the Year award.

Akwuegbu, who spoke to us on telephone from his base where he is now currently studying nursing (Mental health) at the Angel Ruskin University London, said that Osimhen is by far the best player in Africa last season where his 26 goals contribution in the league helped Napoli to break a 33 years aged long jinx by winning the Scudetto for the very first time in their history.

The Austrian Bomber as he was fondly called by his admirers during his active football playing days, noted that he is not unmindful of the challenge from Salah and Hakimi, insisting that the Napoli forward is miles ahead of them by his achievement last season which is why he is throwing his weight behind him.

The press service of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) revealed the names of the top contenders for the title of the continent’s best footballer in 2023 recently with three players standing as the main contenders for this prestigious award: forward Victor Osimhen (Nigeria, Napoli), winger Mohamed Salah (Egypt, Liverpool), and defender Achraf Hakimi (Morocco, PSG.

Osimhen’s contribution to Napoli’s championship season in 2022/23 is invaluable. With 26 goals, the Nigerian emerged as Serie A’s top scorer.

Although Salah hasn’t boasted significant team accomplishments at Liverpool (only winning the English Super Cup), the Egyptian netted 30 goals across all competitions last season. The 25-year-old Hakimi claimed victory in both the French championship and the French Super Cup alongside PSG, being a key player for the team (39 matches, five goals, and six assists)

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