Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos says youth in the state are his “children” and his administration in the past four years has provided them jobs on construction sites.

Mr Sanwo-Olu made this statement when asked about his plans for youths who are critical of his administration in an interview with Arise TV on Wednesday.

“They are my children. They are my bosses in some space. Because I identify with all of them at various levels. You know, it is a large number and there is no way I can satisfy every single person,” Mr Sanwo-Olu said.

“If I do a road construction, it is not for me. It is about the number of youths that are working as supervisors, as labourers, as engineers, on that site. So it has a ripple effect.”

Speaking further, Mr Sanwo-Olu said his government is providing enabling environment for youths to thrive and focused on how to get people out of unemployment and poverty.

“Another area which they (youth) want is technology for example, we are the only state in the country providing enabling environment for them.

“In less than two years, we have seen international organisations coming into Lagos to make foreign direct investments – runs into billions. In fact, Lagos has become the tech start-up hub in Africa and it is because of the economy we have provided for them,” said Mr Sanwo-Olu.

The Lagos governor is fighting for re-election in the governorship election scheduled for Saturday.

Mr Sanwo-Olu’s major challenger, Gbadebo Rhodes Viviour of the Labour Party, has garnered more support going by February 25 presidential election in which Peter Obi polled 582,454, defeating the All Progressive Congress presidential candidate Bola Tinubu, who polled 572, 606 votes in Lagos.

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, has put together a legal team of 19 Senior Advocates of Nigeria to challenge the outcome of the February 25 election.

Atiku briefed them on Wednesday at his campaign Headquarters in Abuja, asking them to “establish the claim of illegality in the election and reclaim the mandate of the Nigerian people.”

The team is headed by a seasoned litigation and commercial lawyer, JK Gadzama.

He further declared that it is crucial for them to go through this process not just for himself and PDP, but also to reinforce constitutional democracy and safeguard it for future generations.

The list of SANs includes Chief Chris Uche, Paul Usoro, Tayo Jegede, Ken Mozia, Chief Mike Ozekhome, Mahmood Magaji, Joe Abraham, Chukwuma Umeh, Garba Tetengi and Chief Emeka Etiaba – as well as Chief Goddy Uche, Professor Maxwell Gidado; PDP’s National Legal Adviser A.K. Ajibade; O.M. Atoyebi; Nella Rabana; Paul Ogbole; Nuremi Jimoh and Abdul Ibrahim.

It was reported that Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, have refused to concede defeat in the February 25 presidential election, vowing to recover their mandate in court.

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.

The Independent National Electoral Commission declared Tinubu as the President-elect after the 70-year-old polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rivals, Atiku and Obi who scored 6,984,520 and 6,101, votes, respectively.

It was also reported that both Atiku and Obi respectively approached to Presidential Election Court to seek permission for the inspection of election materials used during the presidential’s poll.

With the move, the Court of Appeal in Abuja last Friday granted leave to Atiku and Obi to have access to all the sensitive materials used for the conduct of the election.

A panel of the appellate court led by Justice Joseph Ikyegh made the order after it heard two separate ex parte applications the two aggrieved presidential candidates filed alongside their political parties.

Listed as respondents in the matter were INEC, All Progressives Congress, and its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, who was declared the winner of the election and is now the President-elect.

Both applications were predicated on Section 146 (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).

Senator-elect Adams Oshiomhole says his focus in the Senate will not be on collecting allowances and rubber-stamping but on providing legislation that benefits Nigerians.

“We are not there for the allowance. There are a couple of things that can be done differently so that the renewed hope of our party can be translated into reality,” he stressed.

Mr Oshiomhole, representing the Edo North senatorial district, stated this while speaking with journalists at the presentation of the certificate of return to senators-elect in Abuja on Tuesday.

The former Edo governor and APC national chair said he had been the people’s voice as a textile union activist and NLC president.

“I will be part of the Senate that legislates for the good people of our countrymen, not for the powerful, by making sure that what we do in appropriation will be such that Nigerians get value for money,” Mr Oshimhole explained.

“It is expected that the executive is powerful but does not have absolute power, so it will not be subject to legislative check.”

Mr Oshiomhole mentioned that President-elect Bola Tinubu would not “look forward to a rubber-stamp assembly but the one that can help to contribute to knowledge.”

The Edo ex-governor also said the 10th Senate would work for economic growth and robust GDP relying on power reforms, pointing out that the current problem “we face in the power sector was because it was meant to favour friends and relatives, who know nothing about power.”

He explained that “now we have to find the courage to deal with a system that makes citizens pay bills for power they did not consume, which for me is fraud.”

“Government must protect its citizens, and customers must be protected. Otherwise, all the energy spent to vote for a few guys to enjoy does not worth my while,” stated the senator-elect.

“There are a couple of things we have to do differently.”Mr Oshiomole said the 10th Senate would also look into the issue of petroleum products.

“We still see long queues, and each time I see the queues, I feel agitated because I fought against these obnoxious policies when I was the president of NLC. We must take radical action to ensure that the petrol we consume is refined in Nigeria,” he explained.

“I will not go to the Senate to lament but make laws that would be enforced.”

Gombe State Commissioner of Police, CP Oqua Etim, has warned all aides and escorts of top personalities to refrain from accompanying their principals and other politicians to their polling booth.

Etim who gave out the warning ahead of the forthcoming governorship and state House of Assembly elections in the state, said violation of the directive will attract stringent disciplinary measures from the command.

He said;

“The idea is to ensure all citizens freely participate in the electoral process devoid of intimidation, harassment or fear. So, all VIP security aides must refrain from accompanying their principals on Election Day.

“The command wishes to once again enjoin all eligible electorates to be law-abiding and turn out to exercise their franchise.”

Etim added that vigilante and hunter groups are not exempted from the order.

He said;

“Those affected in the warning are quasi security outfits such as vigilante groups, hunters, security outfits, and any other voluntary organisation, without legal backing should not form part of the exercise, as such anyone found in uniform flouting this directive will be arrested and arraigned before the court during the forthcoming elections.”

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, says 203 suspects have been arrested for committing various electoral offenses during the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

The police chief disclosed this during a meeting with Strategic Police Managers comprising Deputy Inspectors-General of Police and members of the Force Management Team, Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, Commissioners of Police, and heads of tactical investigative and operational units of the Force at the Goodluck Jonathan Peacekeeping Hall, Force Headquarters, Abuja, today March 6.

Alkali disclosed that one hundred and eighty-five (185) major incidents were responded to by the Police across the country during the elections and added that eighteen (18) firearms of various calibres were recovered from political thugs during the exercise.

He emphasized that the cases are at various stages of investigation at the Nigeria Police Electoral Offenses Desks and assured Nigerians that they will be concluded and processed to the Legal Department of the Independent National Electoral Commission for prosecution.

At the meeting, Alkali debriefed the officers posted for election security management duties and appraised the performance of the Nigeria Police Force during last Saturday’s election, identify gaps, and perfect the action plan for the forthcoming March 11th Elections.

The IGP reiterated that the Nigeria Police is committed to evolving pathways to incrementally strengthen the Force’s operational capacity and professional knowledge in navigating through the complex electoral process dynamics to police our democratic heritage and meet the expectations of the electorates.

NNPC Limited has announced that it has 2.1 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) in stock, which would ensure a robust supply of the product for at least 35 days.

Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Limited, Mr Garba Deen Muhammad, who made the announcement, said the 2.1 billion litres represented 0.9 billion litres in all the land depots nationwide and 1.2 billion litres on marine vessels. He said the company “plans to close the month of March 2023 with about 2.8 billion litres, which is equivalent to 47 days of sufficiency.

Muhammad said;

“The appearance of pockets of queues in Abuja and some parts of the country is largely due to restrictions in businesses and movement, to allow for the conduct of the Presidential and NASS elections and enable Nigerians to exercise their civic rights.

‘’However, operations have now resumed at the depots and trucks are being dispatched to various parts of the country. We expect normalcy to be restored in the next few days.

“NNPC Ltd. and all its partners and stakeholders will continue to work together to ensure seamless distribution of petroleum products around the Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections.”

Ahead of Saturday, March 11, governorship election, the Governor of Gombe state, Muhammadu Yahaya, has apologized to the Christian faithful in the state.

Governor Yahaya, who is seeking re-election, tendered the apology during a meeting with leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Gombe state chapter, held at the Government House on Saturday, March 4.

Speaking on Saturday, Governor Yahaya, who did not say what he was apologising for, said his administration might have made some errors, The governor said as a human being who is capable of erring, he thought it wise to apologise and seek a fresh start.

While promising to do better in his second administration, he said the upcoming elections should be devoid of sentiments.

“It should be achievements-based and infrastructural development that has a direct impact to the people as a guiding consideration. As in every human endeavour, me and this administration might have committed errors. I request the gathering to forgive and chart a new course for continued development of the state.”he said

He thanked the people for giving him their mandate in 2019 while also listing some of his administration’s achievements including the provision of quality healthcare facilities, educational upliftment, road infrastructure, and the peace and security prevalent in the state among others.

He called on the Christian community to vote for him again for the sustainability of the development of the state.