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About 55 Corps members and staff of INEC deployed to serve as presiding officers, who were held hostage yesterday in Assakio, Ashige and Adogi in Lafia LGA in Nasarawa state on Saturday April 11th, have finally been released, according to a report by  Vanguard The Corpers were rescued by security men this afternoon and brought to INEC Headquarter in Lafia. The Corps members said they were held hostage by the host communities because INEC returning and collation officers refused to show up after the election was peacefully concluded to collate and return election results. They said when they tried to call the returning officers, they didn't pick their calls and the host communities refused to let them go until security men came to their rescue today.

According to Channels TV Correspondent, Seun Okin, the 5 year Old girl (above) named Eniola Rahmon was found in front of INEC office in Yaba. She apparently walked all the way from Mushin. When asked about her parents, she said her father was dead. Family members who recognise her should reach out to the appropriate authorities.

Jimi Agbaje says he will not be running for governor of Lagos state again. He says having lost the first and the second time, he would be seeking other ways to be of service to people of the state. "If I have run once and I have run twice and I don't get my way to be Governor, then I will find another way to be of service to the people" he told Channels TV

International election observers  today   called for the cancellation of the Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers, according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria. The leader of African Centre for Leadership Strategies and Development, Humphrey Bekaren, who spoke on behalf of the observers, made the call in Port Harcourt. He said the observers were shocked that INEC disregarded the widely reported violent irregularities to begin the process of declaring results in the state. "We request all lovers of democracy to join us in calling for the outright cancellation of the phony election. Unless this is done, we would have sown the seed that could eventually grow into providing a shade of fear and death over us,’’ he said. According to Bekaren, what happened in Rivers was a far cry from what election should be. "What we saw did not meet international standard of electioneering, not even the ones set by the Independent Nationa

The music star showed off his new look (left) on instagram...

Governor-Elect Akinwunmi Ambode arrives at Bourdillon with large crowd of supporters

Members of the Alex Otti Support Group (AOSG) have thanked the voters in Abia State for coming out en masse to vote in last Saturday’s governorship election. Mr. Otti ran in the election as the governorship candidate of the All Peoples Grand Alliance (APGA).  In a statement issued by Mary Ikoku, its director of media and communication, AOSG congratulated “the entire people of Abia State who not only craved change, but trouped out en masse to vote change.” The group added, “We thank you for supporting and voting H.E Dr. Alex C. Otti as the Executive Governor of Abia State 2015.” The group’s chairman stated, “We have been inundated with calls and messages from well meaning Abians on the evil plan of the PDP to fraudulently subvert the will of the people via massive rigging. Be assured that we are on top of the situation. Do not despair. It will end in praise as God has given us victory.” Source: Sahara Reporters

Former Speaker of the House of Representative and APC Governorship candidate in Katsina state, Aminu Bello Masari has been declared winner of the governorship election in Katsina state. He pulled a total of 943,085 votes to defeat his closest rival and PDP candidate Musa Nashuni, who pulled 476,768 votes.

Incumbent governor of Ogun state, Ibikunle Amosun has been declared winner of the Ogun state governorship election. He pulled a total of 306,988 votes to beat his closest rival, Mr. Gboyega Isiaka of the PDP who had 201,440 votes.

The returning officer for Akwa Ibom state has declared PDP’s Udom Emmanuel the winner of the governorship poll in Akwaibom state. Mr Udom pulled a total of 996,071 votes to beat APC’s Umana Okon Umana who pulled 89,865. Meanwhile there was massive protest by the APC calling for cancellation of the election in the state. APC says the elections was marred with lots of irregularities.

Former FCT Minister and APC governorship candidate in Kaduna state, Mallam Nasir El Rufai has been declared winner of the Kaduna state Governorship election. He pulled a total of 1, 117, 635 votes to defeat the incumbent governor and PDP candidate, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero who pulled a total of 485 833 votes. Meanwhile the incumbent government at about  3pm  called Mallam El Rufai to congratulate him and concede defeat. See El-Rufai's tweet about the governor's call below

Pioneer Chairman of EFCC and PDP Governorship flag bearer in Adamawa state, Nuhu Ribadu, released a statement this evening conceding defeat. His concession statement as posted on his Facebook wall below "My dear people of Adamawa State, I greet you in the best form of greetings. I had dreamt of coming back home to lead our dear state to greater strides after years of underdevelopment. I started this journey in August last year and successfully got the mandate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to fly its flag for the April 11 gubernatorial election. I came into this race knowing fully well that political contests are two-way traffics – one either wins or loses. As a man of faith, I was also aware that leadership responsibility is a product of God’s anointment. “In the course of this journey, I have seen genuine support and encouragement from the people of Adamawa state. Several individuals from Adamawa and beyond contributed generously to keep the campaign goin

Wife of former US President Bill Clinton, and former US  Secretary of State.  Hillary Clinton , 67,  has declared her interest to run for president of the United State sin 2016. She announced her interest to run today April 12th. "I’m running for president. Everyday Americans need a champion. And I want to be that champion. So I’m hitting the road to earn your vote - because it’s your time. And I hope you’ll join me on this journey.” she said

Even though collation of results in the Lagos governorship election is still ongoing, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the election, Jimi Agbaje, has conceded defeat and congratulated his main challenger, Akinwunmi Ambode of the All Progressives Congress. Mr. Agbaje telephoned Mr. Ambode at exactly 6:58 PM to concede defeat and congratulate the APC candidate, the spokesperson for Mr. Ambode’s campaign, Steve Ayorinde, told PREMIUM TIMES. Mr. Ayorinde said in response, Mr. Ambode thanked Mr. Agbaje and wished him well. There have been widespread celebration in the camp of the APC after collations from local government areas suggested Mr. Ambode had defeated Mr. Agbaje. The Independent National Electoral Commission is however yet to release an official result of the election. Mr. Agbaje had a few hours ago assured his supporters that he could only be said to have lost after an official announcement by INEC. In a message he posted to his o

Ex-Niger Delta militant, Asari Dokubo had a private meeting with the leader of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, Ralph Uwazurike at Buguma Toru LGA of Rivers State recently. Purpose of their meeting was not disclosed. More photos below

Preliminary results from across the country indicate that the All Progressives Congress might win 18 of 29 states where governorship election held Saturday. On the other hand, the Peoples Democratic Party might win in 11 states. Our projection suggests that the opposition All Progressives Congress, which won the March 28 presidential and national assembly elections, will prevail in Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, and Kwara states. Others are Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Sokoto Yobe States and Zamfara states. By that likely outcome, the PDP appears set to lose Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina and Kebbi to the APC. The PDP on the other hand will most likely win in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Plateau, Rivers and Taraba states. The party also appears set to defeat the APC in Imo. If the final outcome of the election stands that way, the APC will be in control of 20 st

Press statement from INEC. Read below... The Independent National Electoral Commission conducted Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections across the country on Saturday, April 11, 2015. Governorship elections were held in 29 States of the Federation, while State Assembly elections were held in 36 states. No election took place in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). A general assessment shows that the elections went very well across the country.  According to preliminary reports, 88.9 % of polling units opened for accreditation between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.across the country. Only 5.2 % were yet to open as of 1 pm. Also, 73 % of the polling units had commenced voting by 2.30 p.m. The process of accreditation with Smart Card Readers was also successful in a majority of the polling units. Initial challenges were recorded in Edo and Abia states, but the technical teams deployed to support the states were able to resolve the issues in a timely manner. 

Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, in an interactive session with journalists spoke on diverse issues including the Boko Haram insurgency, abduction of Chibok schoolgirls and his future plans.  KAYODE IDOWU  was there T he  last four years of your administration have been quite eventful especially in the area of security. How have you been coping? Honestly how I am coping is a secondary issue; what is more important is how the over six million people of Borno State are coping. These are people, who even in the best of time were poor and now further pauperised by the Boko Haram insurgency. Parents were killed, their sons and daughters slaughtered by some demented monsters who were trying to impose their alien ideologies on the beleaguered people of Borno, now turned to beggars; rendered homeless; orphaned, and widowed. My heart goes out to them. I do not care about my feelings, security or comfort; I am more concerned about the welfare of the victims directly affe

Oh no! Rapper Nelly was arrested yesterday morning April 11th on felony drug charges in Tennessee after a state trooper stopped his tour bus for not having the correct ID stickers. The troopers noticed the smell of marijuana when they stopped the bus and then proceeded to search it. The search uncovered marijuana, meth, as well as multiple handguns. Nelly and one of the other five people in the bus were immediately arrested.  S ee the official statement about the arrest from the  Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security below A Tennessee state trooper arrested internationally known hip-hop artist “Nelly” on felony drug charges in Putnam County on Saturday morning. Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Haynes, was charged with felony possession of drugs, simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. At approximately 9:20 a.m. on Saturday, Trooper Michael Loftis stopped a Prevost motor coach bus on Interstate 40 near the 275

The Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 2, Joseph Mbu, says the threat he issued to kill 10 people for every policeman killed made the governorship and assembly elections to be peaceful in Lagos. Mbu spoke on Saturday after monitoring the elections in some parts of the state with journalists. The AIG visited the Ikeja, Agege, Alimosho, Somolu, Ogudu, Yaba, Lagos Island and Gbagada areas of Lagos State, among others. There was no chaos or fight in all the areas as residents cheered the police team. However, three people were arrested in the Ikeja GRA for moving around in their cars, while a passerby, who attempted recording the scene, was equally apprehended. His Smartphone was smashed on the ground by a policeman. At the end of the tour, Mbu lauded the courage of policemen in the state and the orderly conduct of the elections. Asked what was responsible for the peaceful conduct of the elections, Mbu said, “Generally, people

Abia Result:01-01-05-017 St Eugenes as follows -Registered voters=364, Accredited voters =113, Total No of votes =112. House of Assembly result-  PPA =1, Acpn=1, PDP=5, ADC=1, APC=7, ApGa=97. GOVERNORSHIP ACPN - 1 NCP - 1 APC - 5 PDP - 4 PPA - 3 APGA - 98 AMODU UTUTU HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ELECTION RESULT PPA - 2 APC-3 PDP -25 APGA - 113, VOID 10 GOLF COURSE, OKIGWE ROAD, PU 010, GOVERNORSHIP RESULT: PDP - 4 APC-3 APGA-56 PU 011 FOR GOV. PDP-2, APC-4, APGA-19 PU 006 FOR GOV. PDP-6 APGA-80 LB - 6 PPA -2 APC 2 4:31 PM PU 009 FOR GOV. APGA 43 PDP-4 Umuagbai secondary school, Aba south,polling unit 002, ward 7 , FOR GOVERNOR-  APC 2 APGA - 155 PDP 24 VOID VOTES 2 ELEAZU CHIDINMA, Umuagbai secondary school,aba south,polling unit 002, ward 7 , FOR GOVERNOR-  APC - 2 APGA - 158, PDP - 24 VOID VOTES 2 FOR HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY- APA - 1, PPA - 2, APGA - 158 P