Politics

The FCT Independent National Electoral Commission has said that preparation is on top gear for the area council elections scheduled for March 16.

Mr Okezie Nwankwo, Head, Department, Public Affairs, Political Party Monitoring and Liaison of the commission, dropped the hint in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said, ``We have started holding meetings with various stakeholders; we have held inter-agency consultative committee meeting on election securities which the FCT Resident Electoral Commissioner co-chaired with the police commissioner.

``The meeting was also held with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence, Federal Road Safety, Immigration, the State Security Service and other relevant security agencies .

``We are also training and re-training staff of the commission, there will be workshops on voter education in all the six area councils of the FCT, which will include the electoral officers.

``The workshop will also involve Assistant Electoral Officers and officials of the National Orientation Agency (NOA).''

Nwankwo said the aim of the meeting was to ensure security of the electoral process and avoid violence during election.

He said that the commission would hold meetings with the traditional institutions at the grass-roots level on the rudiments of elections. (NAN)

The Police on Tuesday arraigned one Nnamdi Ezeh before an Abuja Magistrates’ Court for allegedly seizing one Austine Ochoga’s school certificate for a four million naira ransom. Ezeh of no fixed address, is therefore, standing trail for joi...

Gov. Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State on Tuesday announced approval for the release of N5.5 million for 11 internally displaced communities in the state. The governor made the announcement at Basa in the Kokona Local Government Area of the state...

Barack and Michelle Obama have spent more than a thousand days on display before the nation’s eyes, but the personal changes they have undergone can be hard to detect. Up close, though, those who know the Obamas say they can see an accumulation o...

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has described urban renewal as one of the greatest challenges facing governors in Nigeria, even as he justified the demolition of illegal structures  in the state. The Governor dropped this hint at the wee...

No fewer than  13 police recruits were burnt to death while six others were critically injured in an auto accident on  Sunday in Omu-Aran, Kwara. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the newly posted  recruits were said to be on...

Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun says his administration will continue to improve on the standard of education in the state. Amosun stated this during the cententary celebration of Ijebu-Ode Grammar School in Ijebu-Ode. The governor, who noted that educati...

Seventy Special Marshalls of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) serving in Kogi State have been sacked for non-performance and other acts of indiscipline. The outgoing State Coordinator of the Special Marshall Command of the FRSC, Mr Joseph Solo...

The new project of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), will address duplication of biometrics by different government agencies in Nigeria, its Director-General, Mr Chris Onyemenam has said. Onyemenam said on Sunday at the forum of the N...

President Goodluck Jonathan will on Monday embark on a working visit to Switzerland and Ethiopia, Presidential Spokesman Reuben Abati has disclosed. Abati, in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, said the President’s engagements in Geneva and D...

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has worked out plans to enroll Nigerians living abroad in its new identity management project. The Director-General of the commission, Mr Chris Onyemenam, made this known in Abuja on Sunday at the foru...

Former UN Secretary General Koffi Annan has described Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, as an `` impeccable public officer and astute diplomat’’.

Annan stated this on the occasion of the 80th birthday celebration organised for the former Commonwealth scribe on Saturday in London.
He said in an interview with the Western Europe correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that ``the celebrant has done a lot for the world and the Commonwealth of Nations where he gave his best for 34 years’’.

``This is a wonderful celebration for a man who has done so much for his country and the world.

``I am personally happy to be here to honour him, celebrate him, and to wish him another 30 years.

`` He is so youthful. I have never seen a younger 80-year-old man like him and I wish him sound health because the world still needs him,’’ Annan said.

Annan urged young Africans to aspire for greatness by emulating Anyaoku’s exemplary leadership.

`` I encourage young people to begin to assume responsibility, they do not have to be old to be responsible and assume leadership,'' Annan said.

``We are moving on and the next generation should be taking over.

The Chairman of Senate Committee on FCT, Sen. Smart Adeyemi, on Sunday said he would spearhead a nationwide protest to resist moves by State Governors to oppose local governments’ autonomy. He said it was unconstitutional for the governors not to...

The Cross River Government on Saturday told border communities in the state to live in peace with their neighbours to end communal crises in the state. The Security Adviser to Gov. Liyel Imoke, Mr Rekpene Bassey, gave the charge in an interview with th...

President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the constitution of the boards of Federal Government University Teaching Hospitals and NAFDAC. This approval is contained in a statement signed by Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. Anyim ...