Christian Atsu Trapped Under Rubble After Earthquake In Turkey

 Former Premier League footballer Christian Atsu is amongst those trapped under rubble in Turkey after a huge earthquake, according to reports.

A search and rescue operation is underway after Atsu, who formerly played for Chelsea and Newcastle United, was caught up in the 7.7 magnitude earthquake. The 65-cap Ghana international joined Super Lig club Hataysport last summer.

Several members of his new team had to be rescued after the earthquake and Atsu is now reported to be amongst those still missing as a search and rescue operation gets underway. The club's sporting director, Taner Savut, is also trapped as efforts to free them continue.

2023: Fresh Nextier Poll Projects Peter Obi’s Victory

 

A fresh poll by Nextier SPD, an African-based international development consulting firm, shows the Labour Party leading with 37 percent followed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with 27 percent and the All Progressives Congress (APC) with 24 percent.

According to the most recent Nextier Poll, Obi has the greatest net favourability among the leading presidential contenders, placing him ahead of his closest rivals, PDP’s Atiku Abubakar and APC’s Bola Tinubu.

The poll, released on Saturday, February 5, 2023, is the second national face-to-face survey conducted by Nextier SPD and shows that a significant percentage of registered voters, 72% have chosen their presidential candidate.

At the same time, among the major political parties, the Labour Party has the greatest net favourability.

According to the firm’s website, Nextier SPD, employs evidence-based research and policy to create and strengthen knowledge and skills for managing society.

The report added, “On Friday, January 27, 2023, Nextier used 144 enumerators to poll 3,000 respondents in all states in Nigeria.

“The enumerators conducted the polls in both urban and rural communities.

“The polls were conducted face-to-face and represented the age and gender demographics in each state of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

Only registered voters who have collected their Permanent Voters Cards were polled.

Meanwhile, Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has protested result of presidential election poll conducted by Nextier which favoured his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Peter Obi, as the preferred choice of the electorate in the six states of South West.

The former Lagos State governor described the poll as ludicrous, farcical and a “wishful thinking without any basis in fact and reality.”

Tinubu who spoke through the director, Media and Publicity of the APC presidential campaign council, Bayo Onanuga, alleged that the pollster, Nestlier, was working for Obi.

In a statement issued on Sunday night, Tinubu maintained that Nextier and its promoters are members of Obi’s campaign team. 

The statement by Onanuga stated: “It is quite ludicrous that Nextier Poll that projects a clean sweep of the South East Region at over 90% of registered votes also puts Peter Obi ahead of APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the six South West States including Lagos.

“Assuming without absolutely conceding that Peter Obi will enjoy home advantage in his part of the country, we then wonder why the pollsters at Nextier, if they have any modicum of respect for the intellect of Nigerians, thought the factors that will propel landslide victory for Obi in South east will not work for the APC candidate in his own South West base.

Don’t Adjust 2023 Election Timetable, Buhari Tells INEC

 President Muhammadu Buhari has instructed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to en­sure that the timetable for the conduct of the 2023 general election is strictly adhered to as no adjustment in the dates will be entertained.

In the timetable released by INEC, last year, the Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on Sat­urday, February 25, 2023, followed by the Governorship and State Assembly elections on Saturday, March 11, 2023.

However, there were reports, last week, that the electoral body may shift the polls by a minimum of two weeks due to logistics issues.

Key among these challenges is the incessant burning of INEC offices across the country and the insecuri­ty challenges in the South-East and North-East.

Also, the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had last week expressed worry over the lingering fuel crisis in the country, noting that the scarcity might affect the movement of election materials and election personnel.

There are also fears that the ongoing naira scarcity might negatively affect the elections even though it is believed that it will be addressed before the polls.

A senior official of the com­mission informed Daily Inde­pendent that while the elector­al body is determined to stick to the scheduled date, recent developments in the country may force it to announce an extension.

“The commission is doing all it can to stick to the an­nounced dates but given the numerous challenges being witnessed across the country, such as burning of our offic­es, insecurity challenges and attack on INEC officials, lin­gering fuel scarcity coupled with problems arising from the naira redesign, I won’t be surprised if the election is postponed by two weeks min­imum.”

However, the Commission­er for Information and Voter Education of INEC, Festus Okoye, denied any plans of ex­tension, saying the dates fixed for the conduct of the elections remain firm.

“The dates fixed by the com­mission for the conduct of the 2023 general election are fixed and firm”, he said.

Also affirming Okoye’s position, Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, said there are no plans to shift the elec­tions.

“Not at all. The commis­sion is not even contemplat­ing shifting the 2023 general election”.

Speaking with Daily Inde­pendent on Sunday, a senior presidential aide who asked not to be named said President Muhammadu Buhari has giv­en clear instructions to INEC to ensure that the scheduled dates are strictly adhered to.

“I don’t think the fears of whether the election dates will be shifted is justified. The pres­ident has given clear instruc­tions to INEC to ensure that the dates announced for the election are strictly adhered to. Also, the commission has said it for the umpteenth time that the dates remain sacrosanct. So right now, we are confident that the presidential election will hold as scheduled on Feb­ruary 25.

“The only issue INEC raised which is very legitimate is the issue of fuel scarcity which they said may affect logistics and I think that has been settled as INEC itself had said it will not rely on the fuel supplied by the Nigerian National Petro­leum Company Limited for the movement of its personnel and materials ahead of the general elections”.

Ado Hadi Collapses, Dies During Match In Spain

 A Nigerian player, Ado Hadi, with CD Madridejos in the Spanish Terceira division, collapsed and died during his side’s home match against SP Cabanillas on Sunday.

In a Castilla-La Mancha Football Federation statement, Hadi reportedly collapsed “for no apparent reasons” in the 39th minute of the ill-fated match, a report by The Nation says.

The medical team on the ground at the Municipal Toledo ground immediately came to his aide but efforts to revive him proved abortive as he was later pronounced dead minutes after.

“The Castilla-La Mancha Football Federation and Castilian-La Mancha football, with its President Pablo Burillo at the helm, are totally dismayed at such an event,” the statement added. “For this reason, the federative body remains at the disposal of CD Madridejos for everything it needs in these difficult times.”

The 21-year-old Hadi last played in Nigeria with Jigawa Golden Stars, according to The Nation.

Until his death, Hadi was one of the four Nigerian players playing for CD Madridejos.

Club Deportivo Madridejos is a football club based in Madridejos, Castile-La Mancha in Spain. Founded in 1968, the team plays in Tercera División Group 18. The club’s home ground is Nuevo Estadio, with a 2,000-seat capacity, The Nation says.

Five Times Tems Made History In Music Industry

 Nigerian singer, Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has won her first Grammy Award at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The singer has hit remarkable milestones in the music industry both at home and abroad.

The PUNCH highlights five times Tems made music history.

1. The singer became the first female Nigerian artiste to win a Grammy award as she won the ‘Best Melodic Rap Performance’ category on Sunday night for her role in ‘Wait for U’, the 2022 hit song by Future featuring Drake.

2. She became the first Nigerian artist to receive an Oscar nomination for her contribution to Rihanna’s ‘Lift Me Up’, a track recorded for the movie ‘Wakanda Forever’.

3. Tems also made history as the first Nigerian and African female musician to win the Best International Act at the BET Awards in 2022.

4. The Essence crooner made history as the first Nigerian artist to debut No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her feature on Future’s Wait For U in 2022.

5. With the single ‘Free Mind’, Tems made history as the first female artist to debut at No.1 on the Billboard US Afrobeat song charts with no feature in 2022.

Waiting For Dangote Refinery Before Removing Subsidy — Reps

 THE House of Representatives has said there was no going back on the removal of subsidy, noting that the completion of Dangote Refinery was what was holding back its removal.

Chairman of the Committee on the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Adebayo Balogun, said at the just concluded commissioning of Lekki Deep Seaport in Lagos, that subsidy would be removed as soon as the refinery came on stream.

Arthur Eze backs FG's new monetary policy
Balogun, who represents Ibeju Lekki Federal constituency of Lagos State, said fuel subsidy would be removed by April, adding that going by the Petroleum Industry Act, subsidy was to be removed by June this year.

He explained that the PIA had to be amended for subsidy to be removed in June but noted that the Federal Government had said it planned to remove it by April.

According to him, subsidy cannot be removed if Dangote and other refineries are not ready.

He said: “In the PIA, subsidy was meant to be removed in June but we had to amend the Act to fast forward it to April because the Federal Government said it will be removed by April.

“The removal cannot be done if Dangote and other refineries are not ready and so that means all these things will come up in the next one or two months.

“You know Dangote refinery also has the petrol-chemical plant which will bring the chemical we use for plastics, pharmaceuticals and others and these are the things we spend billions of dollars to import every year and this will open up other opportunities for people.”

APC Splits Into 300 Factions - Deji Adeyanju Reveals

 Cabal division 1 to 300...

Cabal Division 1: Close friend of Buhari.
Cabal Division 2: Aisha Buhari & co. 
Division 300: APC online supporters.