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Tunisia Migrants: Hundreds of Students Fly Home After Attacks

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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Almost 300 people returned from Tunisia to Mali and Ivory Coast on Saturday after boarding repatriation flights, fearful of a wave of violence since the president launched a tirade against migrants.

Last month President Kais Saied ordered officials to take “urgent measures” to tackle irregular migration, claiming without evidence that “a criminal plot” was underway “to change Tunisia’s demographic makeup”.

Saied claimed that migrants were behind most crime in the North African country, fuelling a spate of sackings, evictions and attacks.

The African Union expressed “deep shock and concern” at his remarks, while governments in sub-Saharan Africa scrambled to bring home hundreds of frightened nationals who flocked to their embassies for help.

A group of 135 Malian nationals reportedly arrived in Bamako late Saturday.

They were welcomed by Defence Minister Sadio Camara and the minister for Malians living abroad Alhamdou Ag Ilyene, who explained that Mali’s government had chartered their plane.

The minister said 97 men, 25 women and 13 children had been on board.

In Abidjan, a flight carrying 145 passengers also landed late on Saturday. They were welcomed by Prime Minister Patrick Achi and several ministers.

They were taken to a reception centre, where they will spend three days receiving medical and psychological care before being reunited with their families.

Since Saied gave his speech on February 21, rights groups have reported a spike in vigilante violence, including the stabbings of African migrants.

Many African migrants in Tunisia lost their jobs and homes overnight.

Dozens were arrested after identity checks, and some are still being detained.

Migrants whose countries have embassies in Tunisia rushed to them for help.

The embassies of Ivory Coast and Mali provided emergency accommodation this week for dozens of their citizens evicted from their homes, including young children.

Citizens of other African countries whose countries have no diplomatic representation in Tunisia set up makeshift camps outside the Tunis offices of the International Organization for Migration.

Among those heading home are dozens of fee-paying or scholarship students who were enrolled in Tunisian universities and in the country legally.

Atiku, Other PDP Supporters Storm INEC HQ in Protest

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the just concluded election has led hundreds of supporters of the party to stage a protest at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja.

This is part of the party’s stance that the just-concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections were not transparent.

Atiku Abubakar, 76 has run for the office of the president, six times.

He got 6,984,520 votes, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), who, in less than a year, galvanised young voters in a manner some have described as unprecedented finished the race with 6,101,533. Both of them came second and third positions after the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Tinubu who polled 8,794,726 and was declared President-Elect 4am Wednesday by INEC.

Update: Court Grants Atiku, Obi’s Request Over Election Materials

A day after the results were released, he slammed INEC over the conduct of the elections, saying the umpire’s inability to upload results on IReV is a “rape of democracy”.

He vowed to challenge the outcome of the election and believes the judiciary will do justice to the matter.

Six States Challenge 2023 Election in Supreme Court

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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Six opposition-led states have asked the Supreme Court to declare the outcome of last weekend’s presidential election invalid, saying the electoral body breached the law and its own rules during the count, court papers showed.

Ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party candidate Bola Tinubu was declared the winner, but the two main opposition challengers have said the result was fraudulent and vowed to challenge it in court.

Election Results Are Safe, INEC Assures Nigerians

Six of Nigeria’s 36 states – Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Sokoto said in court papers dated Feb. 28 that the election body had failed to transmit results electronically through a system meant to show transparency.

They sought a court declaration that all presidential election results announced by the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “were invalid, null and void, and of no effect whatsoever”.

The states are led by governors from the main opposition People’s Democratic Party, whose candidate Atiku Abubakar came second in the presidential election, according to the official tally.

Election observers from the European Union, the Commonwealth and other bodies reported a range of problems, among them failures in systems designed to prevent vote manipulation.

The observers criticised INEC for poor planning and voting delays but did not allege fraud. The commission itself apologised for the technical problems during the count.

The six states sidestepped that normal process and instead sued the federal government, not INEC, arguing that this was a constitutional case, which falls within the jurisdiction of the highest court in Nigeria.

No date has been set for a hearing, according to the Supreme Court register.

There have been numerous legal challenges to the outcome of past Nigerian presidential elections but none has succeeded.

Update: Court Grants Atiku, Obi’s Request Over Election Materials

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Friday granted the request of Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, request to inspect the election materials used during last Saturday’s presidential poll.

LN247 had earlier reported that Atiku and Obi approached to Presidential Election Court to seek permission for the inspection of election materials used during last Saturday’s poll.

The two candidates rebuffed the gesture of conciliation made by the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, who in his acceptance speech after he was declared the winner of the poll on Wednesday, asked them to support him in the task of building the nation.

Atiku and Obi spoke at separate news conferences in Abuja on Thursday.

Atiku, Obi Seek Court’s Permission To Inspect Electoral Materials

But the court on Friday granted both candidates’ request to have access to all the sensitive materials INEC deployed for the presidential election won by All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

The Justice Joseph Ikyegh-led panel of the appellate court, which will also sit as the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, granted the request after it heard two separate ex-parte applications brought by Atiku, Obi and their political parties.

The electoral umpire, Tinubu and APC were cited as Respondents in the matter.

Both applications were predicated on Section146 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022, Paragraph 47 (1, 2 &3) of the First Schedule of the Electoral Act of 2022, as well as under the inherent jurisdiction of the Court as referenced by Section 6 (6) A & B of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

Obi, in his application that was moved by his team of lawyers led by Mr Alex Ejesieme, SAN, sought six principal reliefs.

Atiku’s lawyer, Adedamola Faloku, sought seven prayers from the tribunal.

Specifically, the applicants urged the court to compel INEC to allow them to obtain documents in its custody that were used for the presidential election.

They maintained that the requested documents would aid their petition against the outcome of the presidential contest that was declared in favour of Tinubu.

Former Sports Minister, Dalung Loses House Of Representative Election In Plateau

By
Emenike Agu
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A former Minister of Youth and Sports development, Solomon Dalung, has lost his bid to be elected to the federal House of Representatives.

The former minister who contested under the platform of Social Democratic Party (SDP) polled 3,369 and came third behind the PDP and APC candidates in his Langtang North,/Langtang South Constituency.

The eventual winner of the contest, Beni Lar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), scored 42,008 votes and will be representing the constituency for the fifth time in the green Chamber.

The runner-up of the contest, Vincent Bulus of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, scored 21,345 votes.

Transfer: Osimhen Keen To Play In Premier League

By
Emenike Agu
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Nigeria forward, Victor Osimhen, has revealed his desire to play in the Premier League in future.

Osimhen has been a subject of interest from Premier League giants, Chelsea and Manchester United following a stellar campaign for Napoli.

The two clubs are expected to make a move for the striker this summer.

The Nigeria international has scored 21 goals in 25 appearances across all competitions for Partenopei this season.

Osimhen, however, admitted his focus is on Napoli at the moment.

“I think it is an ambition of all players. And who knows, maybe one day,” the Nigerian told Corriere della Sera.

“Right now, I can assure you that it hasn’t even crossed my mind. It would distract me from what has been a beautiful 

Flying Eagles Book Flight Ticket To Indonesia 2023 FIFA U20 World Cup

By
Emenike Agu
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The primary objective, which is to pick qualifying ticket for the U20 World Cup in Indonesia, have been achieved.

The extra will be the lifting the Africa U-20 for the eighth time.

That is the situation for the Nigeria Flying Eagles who on Thursday reached the 23rd FIFA U20 World Cup finals on Thursday evening after defeating Uganda by a lone goal in Ismailia in the second quarter-final of the 17th Africa U20 Cup of Nations.

Great thanks to Goalkeeper Chijioke Aniagboso, who has been huge for the Flying Eagles since taking over the sticks after the opening day defeat to Senegal in Cairo, captained in the absence of the suspended Daniel Bameyi, but was unfazed by the band and gave another assuring performance for the seven-time champions.

As early as the 10th minute, he had to enact a reflex save to stop a bullet header from a corner kick.

Both teams continued to frisk for opportunities with Nigeria’s Ibrahim Muhammad and Haliru Sarki probing deep but undone mostly by inaccurate passes and poor ball-holding in the final quarter.

However, on the dot of half hour, Ibrahim Muhammad, who scored one of the goals that sank Mozambique on the final day of Group A attrition, latched onto a long ball from the defence, controlled well and fired. His effort saw the ball hit the upright, and in his confusion, defender Ibrahim Juma helped the ball into his own net for the only goal of the match.

Muhammad should have made it two to purchase a cruise for Nigeria only four minutes after the restart, but he put too much power behind his turn and shot.

On the hour mark and seven minutes after, Aniagboso saved point-blank efforts that sustained Nigeria’s lead, and in the 80th minute, Samson Lawal spun the ball away from goal from a 22 -yard free-kick.

Victory earned Nigeria a slot in Monday’s semi-finals as well as a ticket to Indonesia. The Flying Eagles will take on the winner of the clash between Congo and Tunisia, happening at the Cairo International Stadium on Friday.   

Apex Court Declares Old Naira Notes Legal Tender Till Dec 31

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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This picture taken on January 29, 2016 in Lagos shows 1000 naira banknotes, Nigeria's currency. Nigeria's central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, on January 26 dismissed calls to devalue the naira in his monetary policy committee statement. Instead he chose to continue propping up the currency at 197-199 naira to the dollar and maintain foreign-exchange restrictions. As a result, the naira on the black market is hovering around a record low of 305, fuelling complaints from domestic and foreign businesses who can't access dollars required for imports. / AFP / PIUS UTOMI EKPEI (Photo credit should read PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP/Getty Images)

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered that old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes remain in circulation till December 31, 2023.

The apex court also nullified the Federal Government’s naira redesign policy, declaring it as an affront to the 1999 Constitution.

Council of State Backs CBN New Naira Policy

Justice Emmanuel Agim, who read the lead judgement, held that the preliminary objections by the defendants (the Attorney General of the Federation, Bayelsa and Edo states) are dismissed as the court has the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

Old Naira Notes Extension: Reps Reject CBN’s 10-day Deadline

Citing Section 23(2)1 of the constitution, the court held that the dispute between the Federal Government and states must involve law or facts.

The apex court further held that President Muhammadu Buhari in his broadcast admitted that the policy is flawed with a lot of challenges.

The court said the policy has led to some people engaging in trade by barter in this modern age in a bid to survive. The court added that the President’s disobedience of the February 8 order, is a sign of dictatorship.

The apex court held that President Buhari breached the Constitution of the Federation in the ways he issued directives for the re-designing of the Naira by the CBN.

Justice Agim further held that the President failed to consult the National Council of States, Federal Executive Council (FEC) and the National Economic Council (NEC) before directing the CBN to unlawfully introduce new Naira notes.

He held that the unconstitutional use of powers by President Buhari on Naira Re-designing has breached the fundamental rights of the Nigerian citizens in various ways.

The apex court said such use of powers by President Buhari is not permitted under democracy and in a society like the Nigeria.

In the unanimous judgement, the court held that the unlawful use of executive powers by the President, inflicted unprecedented economic hardship on the citizens by denying them ownership of and access to their money.

Atiku, Obi Seek Court’s Permission To Inspect Electoral Materials

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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0

The presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi have asked the Presidential Election Court (PEC) in Abuja to allow them to inspect materials used for the February 25 election.

Their request is contained in two ex-parte motions they filed at the PEC secretariat at the Court of Appeal, Abuja.

Both motions, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and two others as respondents, have been listed for hearing on Friday.

While Atiku filed his own on March 1, Obi’s motion was filed the next day.

Chrisland Schools’ Whitney Died from Electrocution, Asphyxia- Lagos Govt

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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The Lagos State Government on Thursday said Adeniran Omodesola Whitney died from Asphyxia and electrocution.

Whitney a pupil of Chrisland School in the Opebi, Ikeja area of Lagos died some weeks back with the cause of her demise uncertain

But the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Moyosore Onigbanjo in a statement said an autopsy has revealed the cause of her death.

“The Office of the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice has received the Post Mortem report dated 1st of March, 2023, issued by the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, in respect of Adeniran Omodesola Whitney, who was until her demise, a student of Chrisland School, Opebi.

“The post-mortem report revealed the cause of death to be Asphyxia and electrocution. The Directorate of Public Prosecutions has been instructed to immediately issue Legal Advice on the matter.

“We use this medium to commensurate with Whitney’s family, even as we reassure Lagosians that anybody found culpable would immediately be charged to court.”

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