FG Orders Total Closure Of Land Borders For Elections

Nigerian government has ordered total closure of all her land borders ahead of Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly Elections.

Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service, Isah Jere said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

In the statement signed by the NIS Public Relations Officer, Mr Tony Akuneme Jere said that all land borders were to be effectively closed from 12 midnight on Saturday to 12 midnight on Sunday Feb. 26.

“Accordingly, all command comptrollers especially those in the border states are to ensure strict enforcement of this directive,” he said.

Peter Obi Can't Win Presidential Election - Labour Party Chairmen

 

The chairmen of the Labour Party in the 36 states of the federation have declared that the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi cannot win the presidential election on Saturday.

They accused Obi of neglecting them in the running of his campaign and mobilisation activities.

Sani Abdulsalam, Gombe State LP chairman and co-ordinating chairman for the 36 States, Sani at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, said such tendencies could affect the party’s performance at the polls.


Abdulsalam said the 36 state Chairmen of the party had never been respected by the party leadership and also its presidential candidate.

He said Obi deliberately mismanaged their goodwill with the imposition of his members and other support groups that decamped with him in May 2022 to the party.

Of note, Wednesday, February 22, 2023, was the meeting we had with the National Chairman in the party head office where a discussion was held about the logistics support for state chapters and National officers towards effective Mobilisation of our members for the presidential and National Assembly election on Saturday, February 25, 2023

“To our surprise, the National Chairman said the Presidential candidate has no confidence in all the 36 state chapters’ leadership but would rather choose to work with their cronies and support group that came with him,” he said.

According to him, the greatest shock from the National Chairman was that money for agents would not be sent to any State Chairman or National officers except those three NWC members, including a woman and that all state Chairmen and 19 other members already picked by Obi himself would be given monies meant for party agents and that an alert would be received by 10 pm tonight Wednesday, February 22, 2023.

“As of now, no alert has been received by any State Chairmen and information reaching us confirmed that money was paid based on ethnic and religious consideration because only persons of a particular ethnic group currently run the campaign of Mr Peter Obi in cohort with the National Chairman, has polluted the party,” he said.

NASS Election: LP Claims INEC Omitted The Party's Name, Logo On Ballot Pappers

The Labour Party (LP) has called for the postponement of the National Assembly election scheduled to be conducted alongside the presidential poll next Saturday over omission of the party’s logo in the Senatorial and House of Representatives’ ballot papers.

Chairman of the party, Dayo Ekong made the call at a press conference in Lagos following receipt of the ballot papers for the National Assembly elections.

Ekong, called on INEC to reschedule the election until the party’s candidates were included on the ballots.

According to her, as Nigerians prepare to go to the polls on Saturday to elect a new President and members of the Senate and House of Representatives, the LP is decrying the flagrant exclusion of the Labour Party National Assembly candidates on the ballot papers.

Ekong called out INEC to either correct what she described as anomaly or reschedule the National Assembly elections.

“This malicious “error” was found out this morning in Lagos, by me and my team of executive members during the routine inspection of election materials.

“It was at inspection that it was discovered that Labour Party was not listed for the election for Senate in and House of Representatives in Lagos State. This is unacceptable and a wicked way of disenfranchising Lagos electorates.


“We cannot accept this as we do not believe that INEC made a mistake but rather, a deliberate, malicious and intentional act by INEC at disenfranchising our Supporters from exercising their civic rights which is unacceptable,” Ekong said.

She added that further checks on the INEC website revealed that the list of names of Lagos Labour Party National Assembly was not uploaded “even as the list and court orders for same were duly submitted to INEC and acknowledged.”

“You will all recall how we have severally pointed out the bias displayed by the current INEC REC in Lagos State towards our Party and his increasing attacks on our leaders that have constantly pointed out these biases in the past and current onslaught on our Party.

” Is this the result of the culmination of those attacks?

“We call on all Stakeholders, Foreign Observers, Lovers of Democracy and International Community to quickly wade in and call INEC to order to do the needful,” Ekong said.

NAN reports that the event was attended by the Governorship Candidate of the party, Mr Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, other candidates and the state executive committee members. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Osinbajo Inspects Maiden Landing Of Cargo Plane In Ikenne, Ogun State

 VP Osinbajo headlines Official landing of maiden flight into Gateway International Agro-Cargo Airport in Ikenne LGA. "This is how we build a modern & prosperous Nigeria," VP says commending Gov Abiodun.The new cargo airport opens up a Special Eco. Processing Zone.

Child Pornography: R. Kelly Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison - Celebrities

 R. Kelly was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in prison for child pornography and enticement of minors for sex but will serve all but one of those simultaneously with a separate 30-year sentence on racketeering and sex trafficking convictions. 

The sentence means Kelly could leave prison alive, when he’s about 80. Prosecutors had asked Judge Harry Leinenweber to sentence the 56-year-old Grammy Award winner to 25 years and have him start serving them only after he completed his earlier sentence. That would have been tantamount to sending him to prison for life.

They argued that the stiffer punishment was justified by the seriousness of the crimes and what they said was Kelly’s lack of remorse.

Kelly remained still and impassive, his eyes downcast, when the judge issued his sentence in a Chicago federal courtroom. His composure slipped slightly, however, when a representative read a statement written by “Jane,” a key prosecution witness.

“I was brainwashed by Robert and a sex slave,” Jane’s statement said. “It almost killed me.”

Kelly’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, said she was pleased with the judge’s decision.

“It’s the right outcome,” she told reporters following the hearing. “The judge was reasonable. He, I think, took into account both sides and ultimately was fair.”

Leinenweber said at the outset of the hearing that he did not accept the government’s contention that Kelly used fear to woo underage girls for sex.

“The (government’s) whole theory of grooming, was sort of the opposite of fear of bodily harm,” the judge told the court. “It was the fear of lost love, lost affections (from Kelly)’. … It just doesn’t seem to me that it rises to the fear of bodily harm.”

Leinenweber ordered that Kelly serve one year in prison following the racketeering sentence, imposed last year in New York.

A calm Kelly spoke only briefly at the start of the hearing, when the judge asked him if he had reviewed key presentencing documents for any inaccuracies.

“Your honor, I have gone over it with my attorney,” Kelly said. “I’m just relying on my attorney for that.”

Two of Kelly’s accusers asked the judge to punish him harshly.

In a statement read aloud in court, Jane said she had lost her early aspirations to become a singer herself and her hopes for fulfilling relationships.

“I have lost my dreams to Robert Kelly,” the statement said. “I will never get back what I lost to Robert Kelly. … “I have been permanently scarred by Robert.”

The woman was a key witness for prosecutors during Kelly’s trial; four of his convictions are tied to her.

“When your virginity is taken by a pedophile at 14 … your life is never your own,” Jane’s statement read.

Another accuser, who used the pseudonym “Nia,” attended the hearing and addressed Kelly directly in court. Speaking forcefully as her voice quivered, Nia said Kelly would repeatedly pick at her supposed faults while he abused her.

“Now you are here … because there is something wrong with you,” she said. “No longer will you be able to harm children.”

Jurors in Chicago convicted Kelly last year on six of 13 counts: three of producing child porn and three of enticement of minors for sex. Prosecutors did not get a conviction on the marquee charge: that Kelly and his then-business manager successfully rigged his state child pornography trial in 2008.

Kelly rose from poverty in Chicago to become one of the world’s biggest R&B stars. Known for his smash hit “I Believe I Can Fly” and for sex-infused songs such as “Bump n’ Grind,” he sold millions of albums even after allegations about his abuse of girls began circulating publicly in the 1990s.

In presentencing filings, prosecutors described Kelly as “a serial sexual predator” who used his fame and wealth to reel in, sexually abuse and then discard star-struck fans.

U.S. Assistant Attorney Jeannice Appenteng on Thursday urged the judge to keep Kelly in prison “for the rest of his life.”

Kelly’s abuse of children was all the worse, she said, because he “memorialized” his abuse by filming victims, including Jane. She told the court Kelly “used Jane as a sex prop, a thing” for producing pornographic videos.

In prehearing filings, however, Bonjean accused prosecutors of offering an “embellished narrative” to get the judge to join what she called the government’s “bloodthirsty campaign to make Kelly a symbol of the #MeToo movement.”

Bonjean said Kelly has suffered enough, including financially. She said his worth once approached $1 billion, but that he “is now destitute.”

She also remarked that Kelly will be lucky to survive his 30-year New York sentence alone. To give him a consecutive 25-year sentence on top of that “is overkill, it is symbolic,” she said. “Why? Because it is R. Kelly.”

And she stressed that Kelly’s silence in the courtroom should not be viewed as a lack of remorse.

She said Kelly “very much” wanted to speak but she advised him not to because he continues to appeal his convictions and could face other legal action.

Wike To Rivers Voters: Trust My Chosen Presidential Candidate, I Won't Mislead YOU

 Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike has told the people of the State to trust him in the choice of presidential candidate they should vote for on Saturday.

The Governor insisted the choice already made by stakeholders was done with the interest of the state at heart.

Wike said he would not mislead the people maintaining that he would continue to protect the interest of the State at all times.

The Governor spoke on Thursday while inaugurating some critical road projects in Port Harcourt Local Government Area.

The first project inaugurated by the Governor at the Ojoto Roundabout in Mile 2 Diobu in Port Harcourt was the dualized Azikiwe/Iloabuchi Road.

Others were the reconstructed Edeokia/Femie/ Aeroplane Drive/Okuru Junction to Abuloma Jetty Road, which took place at the Aeroplane Drive junction in Abuloma community.

He said: “When you have an opportunity when the people give you their confidence, you must also make them happy. How do you make them happy? It is by making sure you provide them with things that change their environment, with things that will better their lives, with things that will improve economic activities in their area.”

Wike reiterated that Rivers had offered him bounteous opportunities to accomplish so much in his private and political life.

The Governor said, for such benevolence, he was eternally indebted to the State and would protect its interest in all his life.

He emphasised that nothing would make him to sell the state for anything, not also for a pot of pottage like others who only sought personal benefits.

He said: “I am sure the people of this area will continue to remember what this road looked like. If I were you, I would take the old picture of this Iloabuchi road and the new one, and put it in your house. When you wake up, you look at what it was and what it is now.

“For what Rivers State has given me, I owed them (Rivers people) a lot in my life and I will continue to protect their interest. I am not going to sell Rivers State to anybody for a pot of porridge.

“And that is why if I tell you this is the right place, know it is the right place. I am not going to deceive you. I am not one of those leaders who are running around for their personal interest.”

87 Million PVCs Collected Says INEC

 The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says 87,209,007 permanent voter cards (PVC) have been collected across the country.

Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairperson, announced the development on Thursday during a media briefing at the national collation centre in Abuja.

The commission had initially fixed December 12 to January 22 for the exercise in all the 774 LGAs.

The commission then extended the deadline till January 29 and then again till February 5.