Gist Arena

Residents of Lagos and environs have been urged to ignore a rumoured re-emergence of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, in Lagos. The rumour, which began trending on the social media late on the night of Friday April 10, 2015, threw a wide section of the populace into wild panic even as some residents began making preparations to leave the city. Vanguard  gathered that the purported message entitled  “Ebola Returns to Nigeria after Killing 3 and infecting 12”  , continued to circulate on Facebook, WatsApp and Twitter, into Saturday. According to the report, one of the alleged victims, one Mr. George Lawal, showed major signs of the disease which caused neighbours to raise alarm. “He was immediately taken to an undisclosed hospital in Lagos where he later died. Doctors confirmed he was struck with the Ebola flu. They are believed to have made major contacts with at least 12 people who are on the large. Please, share the news and report any suspec...

The declaration of results of Saturday’s governorship election in Abia stalemated midway Sunday following the reversal of the cancellation of three local governments results by the Returning Officer, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba. Mr. Ozumba had announced the cancellation of results from Osisioma, Obingwa and Isialangwa North Local Government Areas on the grounds of “incontrovertible evidence of violence’’ and reports from international observers. The returning office reversed the decision after Governor Theodore Orji led chieftains of PDP to consult with the Resident Electoral Officer (REC), Prof. Selina Oko and Mr. Ozumba. Mr. Ozumba said the cancellation was reversed due to fresh information concerning the conduct of the election in the three council areas. He said polling centres with issues would be isolated and decisions taken on them later. The polling agent of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Ahamdi Nweke, had questioned the rationale behind the deci...

The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared the governorship election in Imo state inconclusive. Due to the number of cancelled votes (144,715) in relation to the margin of win (79,529) by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Rochas Okorocha, the Returning Officer, Professor Ibidapo Obe, declared the election inconclusive. He said a new date would be announced for a rerun election in the cancelled wards spread across several local government areas. Mr. Okorocha was initially thought to have won the election after he garnered 385,671 votes compared to the 306,142 votes scored by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Emeka Ihedioha. The APC candidate is ahead of Mr. Ihedioha by 79,529 votes, which is by far lower than the 144,715 votes cancelled by INEC as a result of irregularities in some wards. INEC’s verdict on the Imo election is a repeat of what happened in 2011. The commission had at the time declared the result incon...

The agent of the Peoples Democratic Party has refused to sign the final result sheet of the Lagos State Governorship election, saying he “cannot accept the results”. His refusal came after the PDP governorship candidate in Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje, who polled 659,788 votes, conceded defeat. His All Progressives Congress counterpart, Akinwumi Ambode, scored 811,994, representing 52.9 per cent of 1,534029, the total votes cast, to emerge winner. Mr. Agbaje’s campaign had told PREMIUM TIMES that the PDP candidate telephoned his APC challenger, Mr. Ambode at 658 p.m. to concede defeat. The PDP agent, Mr. Agoro, condemned the electoral process, saying the exercise was marred by irregularities including use of manual accreditation in Ikate, Ibeju Lekki, Badagry and Mainland Local Government Areas; over voting in Ward 2 Unit 26 of Ikorodu LGA; and compromised electoral materials. Mr. Agoro expressed disappointment that all “the evidences” of irregularities were not ca...

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