Author: Opalim Lifted

The immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),  Prof. Attahiru Jega, has called for the unbundling of the commission and a comprehensive review of the processes and procedures for the appointment of the Chairman and Resident Electoral Commissioners. Jega stated this on Tuesday at a town hall meeting in Abuja, organized by the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Electoral Matters. INEC and the 19 registered political parties were noticeably absent at the event. An investigation revealed that while the electoral umpire was not invited, as the meeting was the first in a series to be…

Rescuers in India are less than 5 metres (16 feet) away from 41 men who have been trapped in a collapsed highway tunnel in the Himalayas for more than two weeks and are confident of drilling through to reach them on Tuesday, officials said. The men, low-wage workers from India’s poorest states, have been stuck in the 4.5 km (3 mile) tunnel in Uttarakhand state since it collapsed on Nov. 12. So-called rat miners, brought in on Monday to drill through the rocks and gravel by hand from inside a 900-millimetre (3-foot)-wide evacuation pipe that has been pushed through the…

Rescuers on Monday brought in “rat miners” to drill through a narrow pipe and help pull out 41 construction workers trapped in a tunnel in the Indian Himalayas for more than two weeks after high-powered machines failed, officials said. The men, low-wage workers from India’s poorest states, have been stuck in the 4.5-kilometre (3-mile) tunnel in Uttarakhand state since it collapsed on Nov. 12. They have been getting food, water, light, oxygen, and medicines through a pipe, but efforts to dig a tunnel have run into a series of snags with machines. Attempts to drill a tunnel horizontally through the…

Philip Shaibu, the Edo state deputy governor, on Monday officially declared his interest in contesting the forthcoming 2024 governorship election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in a pre-recorded speech. Shaibu launched his campaign office in Benin City, the state capital, at a crowded event filled with party supporters wearing branded accoutrements, following his official declaration. “After all the consultations we have had, we needed to now make the answer to our consultations known to our people. And the answer is clear: They have asked me to run,” he said amid the reverberating cheers of loyalists. The 53-year-old…

Philip Shaibu, Edo state deputy governor, has declared his interest in contesting the forthcoming 2024 governorship election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), declaring that nobody can halt his ambition. The deputy governor, who made his declaration at the Bishop Kelly Centre in Benin, said he is a homeboy who feels the pain of the people, urging the electorate and party members to back his ambition. He said, having been in politics for 30 years and working with Governor Godwin Obaseki in the last seven years to improve the state, he was in the best position to…

President Bola Tinubu said his administration was working towards the introduction of a policy that will grant full university autonomy. The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Engr. Abubakar Momoh, represented President Tinubu when he made this statement in Benin during the 48th convocation of the University of Benin. He said he was convinced that varsity autonomy would enhance the quality of university education. “University autonomy transfers responsibility and performance directly to the individual institution. This administration believes that this is the right step in the right direction,” he said. The president said he was committed to repositioning tertiary institutions and…

Ahead of Edo State deputy governor Philip Shaibu’s formal declaration of his governorship ambition on Monday, Eterno Hotels in Benin City cancelled his booking to use the hotel. The hotel management contacted Shaibu to inform him that the space was no longer available for his use and refunded his money. Eterno was said to have told the Shaibu group that another group, ‘Obaseki finishing well group,’ had paid for the same venue. Eterno Hotels, located in the Government Reserved Area, Benin, is owned by a prominent chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state. One of the Edo State…

Dapo Abiodun, Governor of Ogun State, said on Sunday that President Bola Tinubu inherited a government that was nearly dead. Abiodun disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics. Chronicle NG reports that Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State believes Nigerians should be patient with the current administration. He said, “The President Tinubu-led administration has been very bold and audacious. “They’ve taken the bull by the horns. They’ve done what no government has done in the history of Nigeria. “Tinubu inherited an administration that was almost comatose. I believe this government is very bold and taking the bull…

The Federal Government has promised to resolve challenges bordering on the supply and pricing of Liquefied Petroleum Gas in Nigeria’s domestic market, better known as cooking gas. Chronicle NG reports that Louis Ibah, spokesman for the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the minister waded into the issue following a rise in the price of LPG per kg from about N700 to above N1,100 in some parts of the country. Top officials of Chevron Nigeria Limited, led by Sansay Narasimi; the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, led by its Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed; and the…

Alejandro Garnacho smashed in a sensational goal-of-the-season contender as Manchester United beat Everton in the Toffees’ first game since their 10-point deduction. Garnacho’s incredible third-minute effort silenced the fiery home faithful at Goodison Park, as fans vented their fury with anti-Premier League protests following their unprecedented sanction. There looked to be no danger when Diogo Dalot dinked a cross into the box, but Garnacho had other ideas, taking a couple of steps back before leaping into the Merseyside sky and unleashing an unstoppable bicycle kick that sailed over Jordan Pickford and into the net. United created only one chance in…