Aisha Yesufu, co-convener of BringBackOurGirls,BBOG, advocacy group, on Tuesday called out President Muhammadu Buhari over his presence at the All Progressives Congress, APC, rally in Osun State, Daily Post reports.

“According to her, Buhari’s appearance at APC rally in the heat of Boko Haram Killings, showed lack of importance for security of Nigerians to him.

In a post on her Twitter page, she wrote, “Dear Muhammadu Buhari, (Khorsa) Saifura’s children would grow to hear how their mother was executed by terrorists and also how the plea for rescue by their mother was ignored and after her death all that concerned you was votes.

“One has to make what is important to him a priority! Buhari has made votes and elections his priority, not citizens and security.

“RIP Saifura, Leah Sharibu, BringBackOurGirls.”

“The Ekiti governorship election petition tribunal will continue its sitting in Abuja,” The Cable reports.

“The decision to relocate the tribunal from Ekiti state followed Monday’s approval of a Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) request by the tribunal panel.”

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday, insisted that the Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) had planted a presidential aspirant in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Punch reports.

“He told newsmen at the Government House in Port Harcourt that he would never be blindfolded or misled.”

Said Wike: “I have not even mentioned how a very senior official of a security agency in the country told me which of the candidates to support.

“You can imagine me as a governor and the head of a security agency would tell me to support one or two persons.

“Head of security agency who is in a government controlled by the APC; come on, you direct me on who to support for president?”

The governor restated that the plot by the APC Federal Government to use security agencies to rig elections in Rivers State in 2019 would fail.

Said Wike: “It won’t happen in my state, but I know they will kill a lot of persons. I can tell you they will kill a lot of us. No problem; this is the sacrifice we have to make for democracy to thrive.”

The senator representing Rivers East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Andrew Uchendu, and Acting Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Procurement, on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, said that hope has been restored to the lives of 108 Federal Civil Servants, Rivers citizens inclusive, who were recruited by the Federal Civil Service Commision (FCSC) in 2014, but did not receive salaries and allowances for over three years.

Uchendu motion on the floor of the Red Chamber on January 30, 2018, that sought the speedy inclusion of these Federal Civil Servants into the IPPIS.

Said Uchendu: Today, I am delighted to inform Nigerians that following the motion, subsequent investigation and intervention by the Senate, these 108 Federal Civil Servants have now been fully captured on the IPPIS and enlisted for payment of salaries and allowances by the FCSC. I am glad because God has used me to bring succour and greater hope to these our brothers and sisters.

The Lagos State chapter of the APC has described as good development for democracy, the emergence of Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, challenging Governor Akinwunmi Ambode at the forthcoming party primary, Daily Trust reports.

“The state chairman of the party, Tunde Balogun, while responding to questions from journalists at the party secretariat, said the decision to hold a direct primary was the beauty of democracy.

“According to Balogun, the idea of introducing direct primary meant that APC was truly a democratic party because party members would be the ones to determine who would emerge as the flag bearer.“

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has launched a braille ballot guide to assist eligible voters who are visually impaired to assist them cast their ballot without support in the Osun State governorship poll, Premium Times reports.

During the launching of the guide at the media centre in Osogbo on Tuesday, the resident electoral commissioner, Segun Agbaje, explained the decision.

Said Agbaje: “We are going to see how we will improve in making polling units accessible for people with disabilities against 2019 general elections. But already we have to work with our electoral officers at the local government areas to ensure that the lapses we saw in Ekiti State election do not repeat themselves by ensuring that those people with disabilities are given attention during election.”

Atiku Abubakar: “If I eventually get the ticket of our party and become president, I will end nepotism, ethnicity and religious fanaticism which we are presently facing.

“I am urging you delegates to vote for me during the primaries; I want to give you the Nigeria that you deserve; my administration, if elected, would not be an era for promoting religious interest.

“It will not be an administration for promoting interest on tribal or ethnic lines or showcasing outright nepotism; it will be an era of uniting the people and bringing everyone together.”

___ Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Tuesday in Jos.

Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose in another letter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) suggested a September 20 date for the agency to interrogate him in his office in Ado-Ekiti, The Nation reports.

“Fayose said the Commission should wait till October 16 at the expiration of his immunity if it cannot deploy its interrogators to Ado-Ekiti on the suggested date.

“He criticized the EFCC for writing Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other security agencies demanding that he be placed on a watch list to prevent him from escaping from the country to evade justice.“

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the development as “shocking, strange and embarrassing,” Daily Trust reports.
“It is shocking that a convict serving a 14-year jail term will be given a nomination form to contest an election. This is just ridiculous,’’ Mr Ben Shignugul, PDP Vice Chairman (Plateau Central), told NAN.

“He (Dariye) is our illustrious son and we sympathise with him. We expect him to be sober and reflect on what has happened to him, instead of allowing himself to be dragged around by desperate politicians,’’

“section 107 sub-section 1 (d) of the Nigeria Constitution 1999 as amended, states that no person shall be qualified for election if, within a period of less than 10 years before the date of election, he has been convicted and sentenced for an offence involving dishonesty.

“It also states that anyone that has been found guilty of contravening the code of conduct shall not be allowed to contest election.”