The Independent National Electoral Commission has presented certificates of return to Ondo State Governor-elect, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, and his deputy, Adelami Olayide.

The certificates were handed over in Abuja on Wednesday by the Supervisory National Commissioner for Ondo State, Prof. Kunle Ajayi.

This comes four days after INEC declared Aiyedatiwa the winner of the governorship election held on Saturday.

Representing the All Progressives Congress, Aiyedatiwa defeated Agboola Ajayi of the Peoples Democratic Party and 15 other candidates.

He won across all 18 local government areas of the state, polling 366,781 votes against Ajayi’s 117,845.

Days after the Court of Appeal in Abuja nullified his presidency, Musiliu ‘MC Oluomo’ Akinsanya assumed office as the National President of the National Union of Road Transport Workers on Tuesday.

This marks the first time MC Oluomo has publicly announced assuming office since the appellate court’s decision to reaffirm Ibikunle Baruwa as the legitimate NURTW president.

MC Oluomo, who was elected unopposed during an election at the union’s zonal secretariat in Osogbo, had his presidency nullified by a three-member appellate panel. The panel, comprising Justices Hamma Akawu Barka, Nnamdi Okwy Dimgba, and Asmau Ojuolape Akanbi, upheld the National Industrial Court’s earlier ruling of 11 March, which recognised Baruwa as the rightful president.

The court also awarded N100,000 in costs against MC Oluomo, in favour of the respondents. Following the ruling, human rights lawyer Femi Falana called on the federal government to ensure the immediate reinstatement of Mr Baruwa. Falana urged the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, and the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to enforce Baruwa’s leadership.

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday forwarded the names of three Resident Electoral Commissioners to the Senate for approval.

President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio made this known during the Tuesday plenary.

The House subsequently referred the request to the committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to report back as soon as possible.

Barely two weeks ago, the president nominated a lawyer, Saseyi Feyijimi Ibiyemi, as REC for Ondo State.

President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has said he’s 100 percent loyal to the President.

Bwala said he is loyal to Tinubu like he was to the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

He spoke while featuring on Channels TV programme, Politics Today.

“I’m 100 percent loyal to the president, when I was with Atiku I was 100 percent loyal,” he said.

Bwala, a former member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), served as the party’s campaign spokesman in the 2023 presidential election.

He ditched the PDP after the presidential election and returned to the All Progressives Congress.

The Southwest Zonal Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Olalekan Folorunsho, aka Lekan Salami, has declared that the embattled National President of the Union, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, is no longer a member.

Salami maintained that MC Oluomo is not ineligible to hold any position within NURTW.

In a statement, Salami explained that MC Oluomo ceased to be a member of the NURTW in 2022 after he openly tore his Union identity card.

MC Oluomo had disclosed his exit from the Union after he was issued a query from the national leadership.

“Our Constitution stipulates that a returning member must submit a formal application to the National leadership, which will be considered.

“If accepted, the member must spend at least two years before being eligible to seek any office, starting from the unit chairman level. None of these steps have been followed by MC Oluomo,” Salami said.

Salami also reaffirmed the leadership of Baruwa, stressing that his tenure was valid and has been upheld by the Appeal Court.

“The NURTW in Osun State remains under the leadership of Alhaji Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa. The government must not condone gangsterism, and MC Oluomo should be called to order,” he added.

The Independent National Electoral Commission will officially present certificates of return to Ondo State Governor-elect Lucky Aiyedatiwa and his deputy on Wednesday.

The certificates will be issued at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, confirmed this on Monday.

He said, “The certificates of return will be presented by the commission to the governor-elect and his deputy on Wednesday.”

The electoral commission declared Aiyedatiwa the winner after he secured a total of 366,781 votes, defeating the PDP’s Agboola Ajayi, who garnered 117,845 votes.

The Labour Party, LP, gubernatorial candidate in the ongoing Ondo state governorship, Festus Olorunfemi has cast his vote in the exercise.

Olorunfemi cast his ballot at his polling unit in Unit 8, Ward 5, Ajowa-Akoko, Akoko North West LGA.

DAILY POST reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Friday, at the eleventh hour to the election included Olorunfemi’s name in the governorship election following a court verdict that asked for the replacement of Olusola Ebiseni.

An alleged vote-buyer in the ongoing Ondo State governorship election has been arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS.

The alleged vote-buyer was apprehended with two bags of money believed to be aimed at inducing voters.

He was arrested at Ward 4, Polling Unit 007 outside St. Stephen’s Primary School, Akure, Ondo State, around 9:00 am on election day.

Meanwhile, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has casted his vote at Polling Unit 6, Ward 4 in Obenla, Ilaje LGA.

Aiyedatiwa is contesting to retain the governorship seat in the off-cycle election against 16 other candidates from different political parties, including Agboola Ajayi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Ondo State Governorship Election commenced at 8:30 am on Saturday in Akoko North-East and Akoko North-West LGAs of the state with large turnout of voters.

Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC were seen at some of the polling units visited by NAN, attending to the electorate.

At Iyometa Ward 1, Unit 1; Iyometa Ward 2, Unit 007 and Ikado Ward 2, Unit 5 in Ikare-Akoko and also at Ugbe Akoko, Ward 3, Unit 2, election commenced at 8:30 am.

Speaking with the NAN, Vincent Ugboma, the Presiding Officer (PO) at Ikado Ward 1, Unit 001, said that there was a little delay due to the BVAS malfunctioning, but the issue had been sorted out.

Ugboma said that voters started coming out in large numbers, adding that over 50 persons had been accredited and have voted in the unit by 9:00 am.

“The electorate are much; there is need to divide the unit into two so that it could be managed effectively by the electoral officials,” he said.

Also, in Ikado Ward2, Unit 13, Mr Felix Adedoja, the Presiding Officer, said that the election had been going well without any hitch.

He, however, said that some of the voters were impertinent and unruly.

Surajudeen Yakubu, 32, a physically-challenged person, who cast his vote at Iyometa Ward 2, Unit 008, urged the electoral body to allow the votes to count.

Yakubu also advised persons with disabilities, PWDs, to always exercise their right in any given election, adding “being a PWD should not limit them from exercising their rights”.

The Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has approved the appointment of Gani Audu as his Chief of Staff.

According to a statement issued by the Secretary to State Government, Musa Ikhilor, on Friday, Audu’s appointment is expected to drive meaningful reforms across the state.

The statement read, “It is hereby announced for the information of the general public, particularly the good people of Edo State, that Governor Monday Okpebholo has approved the appointment of Gani Audu as his Chief of Staff.

“The appointment takes immediate effect.”

Born on August 18, 1969, Audu holds an HND from Auchi Polytechnic (1994), a PGD in Business Administration from Benson Idahosa University (2011), and an M.Sc. in Intelligence and Global Security from Baze University, Abuja (2024).

Audu served as the Chairman of Etsako West Local Government Council from 2004 to 2010 and as a member of the Edo State House of Assembly for Etsako West Constituency 1 from 2015 to 2023.

He was also the deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress during the 2020 Edo State Governorship elections.

Chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, APC, have arrived Akure, the Ondo State capital, ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.

Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos, Dapo Abiodun, Ogun, Biodun Oyebanji, Ekiti, and the immediate past deputy governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu are in Akure for the grand finale of the party’s campaign.

Sanwo-Olu’s media aide, Gboyega Akosile, disclosed the arrival of the APC chieftains for the mega rally.

Posting on X, Akosile wrote, “Flash: Governors @jidesanwoolu, his Ogun State counterpart @DapoAbiodunCON, Ekiti State Governor @biodunaoyebanji, former Deputy Governor of Edo State @phillips Shuaibu, Lagos GAC members and leaders of the @OfficialAPCNg storm Akure for the party’s and Governor @LuckyAiyedatiwa’s mega rally ahead of Saturday’s Governorship election.”

APC candidate and incumbent governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, will on Saturday lock horns with other contestants in his quest to retain his seat.

Aiyedatiwa emerged as governor following the death of his former boss, Rotimi Akeredolu in 2023.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has warned against malpractice in Saturday’s governorship election.

Atiku warned that the PDP would firmly stand against any form of election malpractice during Saturday’s poll.

Sensitive materials for the Ondo State governorship election, scheduled for Saturday, 16th November 2024, have arrived in Akure, the state capital.

The materials were transported by the Nigerian Air Force and have been received by officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

This was disclosed in a brief message posted on the official X page of the Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday.

This marks a significant step towards ensuring a smooth and secure election process in the state.

The message read: “Breaking News! Sensitive materials for the Ondo State governorship election, scheduled for Saturday, 16th November 2024, have arrived in Akure, the state capital, and have been received by officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The materials were conveyed to Akure by the Nigerian Air Force.”

Donald Trump claimed victory and pledged to “heal” the country Wednesday as results put him on the verge of beating Kamala Harris in a stunning White House comeback.

His exuberant speech came despite the fact that only Fox News had declared him the winner, with no other US networks having made the call so far.

As jubilant supporters cheered and chanted “USA”, Trump took to the stage at his campaign headquarters in Florida along with his wife Melania and several of his children.

“We are going to help our country heal,” the Republican former president said.

“It’s a political victory that our country has never seen before.”

US networks have called the swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina for the 78-year-old, and he led the Democratic vice president in the others although they have not been called yet.

Gloom swiftly descended on Harris’s camp.

“You won’t hear from the vice president tonight but you will hear from her tomorrow,” Cedric Richmond, Harris campaign co-chair, told a watch party in Washington as supporters left.

In a further blow to Democrats, Trump’s Republican Party also seized control of the Senate, flipping two seats to overturn a narrow Democratic majority.

A Trump victory threatens to cause shockwaves around the world, as US allies in Europe and Asia fear a return of his nationalist policies and his praise of autocrats like Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

But the US dollar surged and bitcoin hit a record high while most equity markets advanced as traders bet on a victory for Trump as the results rolled in.

Polls for weeks had shown a knife-edge race between Harris and Trump, who would be the oldest ever president at the time of inauguration, the first felon president and only the second in history to serve non-consecutive terms.

Trump also faces sentencing in a criminal case over hush money payments on November 26, while the controversy over his denial of his 2020 election defeat by Joe Biden still persists.

But in the end victory came surprisingly quickly.

The mood shifted sharply at Harris’s watch party in Howard University — her former college and a historically Black university in Washington — as the results came in.

“I am scared,” said Charlyn Anderson. “I am anxious now. I am leaving, my legs can barely move.”

In contrast, the celebrations intensified at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and the watch party nearby.

Tech tycoon Elon Musk, who has backed Trump and stands to lead a government efficiency commission under him, posted a picture of himself with the Republican.

“Game, set and match,” Musk said on X, the social media network he owns along with the Tesla electric vehicle firm and the Space X company.

Millions of Americans had lined up throughout Election Day — and millions more voted early — in a race with momentous consequences for the United States and the world.

They were deciding whether to either hand a historic comeback to Trump or make Harris the first woman in the world’s most powerful job.

In a stark reminder of the tension — and fears of outright violence — dozens of bomb threats were made against polling stations in Georgia and Pennsylvania.

The FBI said the threats appeared to originate in Russia, which is accused by Washington of trying to meddle in the election. The threats were all hoaxes but succeeded in disrupting proceedings.

Harris, 60, had aiming to be only the second Black and first person of South Asian descent to be president.

She made a dramatic entrance into the race when Biden dropped out in July, while Trump — twice impeached while president — has since ridden out two assassination attempts and a criminal conviction.

She hammered home her message that Trump was a threat to democracy and her opposition to Trump-backed abortion bans.

Trump has vowed an unprecedented deportation campaign of millions of undocumented immigrants, in a campaign full of dark rhetoric.

The election is being watched closely around the world including in the war zones of Ukraine and the Middle East. Trump has indicated he will cut aid to Kyiv’s battle against the Russian invasion

Republican Senator Ted Cruz, representing Texas, has won his reelection bid, defeating Democratic Party candidate Colin Allred.

Mr Cruz polled 5,678,209 votes, representing 53.7 per cent of votes cast to return for a third term in the U.S. Senate.

His rival, Mr Allred, polled 4,655,039 votes, 44 per cent of votes, to come second behind Mr Cruz.

“Tonight, the people of Texas have spoken, Mr Cruz said in his victory speech on Wednesday, “and their message rings clear as a bell across our great state: Texas will remain in Texas.”

This comes as Americans await the results of the presidential election featuring Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has claimed that the 2023 presidential election won by President Bola Tinubu was “criminally stolen” from him.

Mr Abubakar’s statement comes over a year after the Nigerian Supreme Court affirmed Mr Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election.

Reacting to a statement by Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson for Mr Tinubu, who claimed that the former vice president was rejected at the polls in 2023, Mr Abubakar said on his official X account on Monday that he did not lose the election, asserting it was “criminally stolen.”

“Let me emphasise that the citizens who cast their votes in the 2023 presidential election are well aware that I did not lose; rather, we find ourselves in this predicament because the election was criminally stolen from the Nigerian people,” Mr Abubakar stated.
The former vice president further criticised Mr Tinubu’s government for lacking concrete governance plans, adding, “One can only speculate that Tinubu’s government is anchored to a mere Tea-plan, which can only lead to a T-pain.”

“Like many fellow Nigerians, I firmly believe that we find ourselves in this current economic turmoil due to the Tinubu administration’s hasty ascent to power, devoid of a coherent plan,” Mr Abubakar added.

Mr Abubakar’s remarks mark the latest in an ongoing exchange between his camp and Mr Tinubu’s over Nigeria’s struggling economy.

President Bola Tinubu has sworn in seven new ministers to his cabinet at the Council Chamber of the State House, Abuja.

This follows their confirmation by the Senate on Thursday, during which all seven nominees were confirmed after being screened individually.

The new cabinet members took the oath of office in two batches—four in the first batch and three in the second—after their citations were read by the State House Director of Information, Abiodun Oladunjoye.

The first four appointees include Idi Maiha (Minister of Livestock Development); Yusuf Ata (Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development); Dr Suwaiba Ahmad (Minister of State, Education); and Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu (Minister of State, Foreign Affairs).

Subsequently, Dr Jumoke Oduwole (Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment), Dr Nentawe Yilwatda (Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction), and Muhammadu Dingyadi (Minister of Labour and Employment) took their oaths before the President.

In a major cabinet reshuffle on October 23, Tinubu approved the reassignment of 10 ministers to new portfolios, dismissed five others, and nominated seven new ministers for onward transmission to the Senate for confirmation.

The Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC) says the All Progressives Congress (APC) has won all 18 chairmanship and 196 councillorship seats in the state.

Ekong Boco, chairman of the commission, announced the results at the commission’s office in Calabar on Sunday.

The election was conducted in all the 18 local government areas in the state on Saturday.

Mr Boco urged the elected chairmen and councillors to be magnanimous in victory and also give priority to the development of their local governments.

Mr Boco, thereafter, presented certificates of return to the winners.

U.S. former President Donald Trump rode in a garbage collector’s van on Wednesday at the Wisconsin campaign and subtly mocked President Joe Biden, who previously referred to his supporters as “floating garbage.”

“I have to begin by saying 250 million Americans are not garbage,” Mr Trump, who wore a garbage collector’s vest, said during the campaign, referring to Mr Biden’s comment.

Mr Biden, in a virtual Harris campaign call with Voto Latino on Tuesday, berated Mr Trump after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” in a joke at the former American president’s rally over the weekend.

“The only garbage I see floating out there is his (Trump) supporters,” Mr Biden said. “His demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable, and it is un-American.”

Though the video of his comment has gone viral, Mr Biden denied calling Mr Trump’s supporters garbage as reactions continue to trail his remarks.

Riding on Mr Biden’s remarks, which have submerged Mr Hinchiffe’s joke and sparked reactions from Americans, Mr Trump rode in a garbage van to his campaign in Wisconsin, one of the battleground states projected to determine the election outcome.

“Kamala and Joe call of us and them garbage. I call you the heart and soul of America,” he said ahead of the November 5 presidential election.

The former American president criticised Ms Harris for labelling him a “fascist” and “Hitler,” saying, “Joe Biden’s comment is a direct result of Kamala Harris portraying those who don’t vote for her as evil and subhuman. They treat the whole country like garbage.”

Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has called on its members and supporters to disregard recent remarks by Primate Elijah Ayodele, the head of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, claiming that the party’s chances in the upcoming 2026 gubernatorial election in the state is dependent on cooperation between prominent party leaders.

This call was contained in a statement by Kola Olabisi, the Osun APC Director of Media and Information on Sunday in Osogbo.

The party revealed that Primate Ayodele had in a widely circulated video stated that APC’s victory would hinge on uniting former Osun governor, Isiaka Adegboyega Oyetola, currently the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, with former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, under the Omoluabi Movement.

Rejecting Ayodele’s prediction, the APC asserted that the claim was unfounded and intended to “create unnecessary tension within the party.”

Olabisi, who described Ayodele’s statement as a “political analysis disguised as prophecy,” maintained that “our party is united and working diligently towards success in 2026 without external influences.”

Citing Ayodele’s past incorrect predictions as grounds for dismissal, Olabisi pointed out, “This is the same prophet who falsely predicted former President Goodluck Jonathan’s continued rule till 2019 and claimed that Atiku Abubakar would win the 2023 presidential election.

“We reject the Primate Ayodele’s fallacious prophecy which we consider to be in the realm of a figment of the imagination of the suspected mercantile prophet of which its prediction is aimed at causing unnecessary tension and friction within our party in Osun State.

“We would like to impress it on Prophet Ayodele and his discreet sponsors that our party which has been working assiduously round the clock to achieve victory in the said elections would continue to work for its victory without the enlistment of any metaphorical serpents who have become political pariahs and men of yesterday in the corridor of political power in the state because of their evil deeds unleashed on the party in the past.”

According to the APC spokesperson, the party is committed to moving forward, confident in its direction and leadership.

Senator representing Borno South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Mohammed Ali Ndume, has reacted to President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet reshuffling that led to the sack of five Ministers, saying there should be more sack.

The lawmaker also praised the administration for the recent de-dollarisation policy which he described as “right steps in the right direction”, stressing that the development will strengthen the naira and boost transatlantic trades with other nations of the world who don’t depend on the United States dollar.

He encouraged President Tinubu to pursue the de-dollarisation policy to a logical conclusion by making Nigeria join BRICS, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa.

Ndume gave the suggestions in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Saturday.

In his explanation, Ndume said, the de-dollarisation is a process by which nations look for alternatives to transacting international businesses in other currencies other than relying heavily on United States dollars, noting that it would help businessmen and women importing goods from China and other Asian countries.

“That policy announced by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must be commended. If it is fully implemented, it will drastically reduce the pressure on the naira, and our international businessmen and women who import goods from countries like China will not depend on the United States dollar.

“The policy will also assist the naira in appreciating significantly. This will help us as a country in so many ways. So, I commend the President for taking these economic bold steps at a time like this,” Ndume noted.