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AIT Broadcaster, APC Disagree Over Transmission Of Result

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The anchor of the Democracy Today program on AIT, Ijeoma Osamor on Friday, maintained that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Prof Mahmood Yakubu) did not declare that the results of the February 25 presidential elections will no longer be uploaded and transmitted in real-time.

Osamor disagreed with the counsel for the All Progressives Congress at the Presidential Election Petition Court where the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, are disputing the results of the presidential election.

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One of the grounds raised by the petitioners in support of their prayers to invalidate the return of the president, Bola Tinubu was that the commission, specifically its chairman, reneged on his promise to upload the results sent to the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System to the INEC Results Viewing portal in real-time.

READ ALSO: Tinubu: Melaye Testifies In Court, Justifies Refusal To Sign Presidential Poll Result

So far, video evidence tendered before the PEPC by the petitioners has bordered around clips showing the INEC chairman at different times assuring Nigerians of the use of technology in the presidential election.

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The court, again on Friday admitted in evidence another flash drive and played in the open court a clip of Mahmoud delivering a speech emphasising the deployment of BVAS and IReV for the elections.

The event was aired live on AIT’s Democracy Today program anchored by Osamor who was subpoenaed to appear before the court.

During cross-examination of the witness, counsel for the APC, Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN) asked the reporter if she was aware that a few days before the election, the INEC chairman made a press statement saying the election results will no longer be uploaded in real-time.

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READ ALSO: Tinubu: Melaye Testifies In Court, Justifies Refusal To Sign Presidential Poll Result

Owonikoko SAN raised the issue and cited that there was a publication by The Tribune on February 23 to that effect.

However, the reporter insisted that while covering the beat, she was present during the press briefing and at the collation center, particularly on the said day.

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She said that Mahmoud did not make the statement.

However, she said while her news organisation was focused on live coverage of events and programmes, the newspaper publication could have been based on an interview with the reporter.

The PUNCH reports that after the witness was discharged, the five-man panel of the court adjourned to Monday, June 19 for further hearing in the petition by LP and Obi.

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VIDEO: How Peter Obi Betrayed Me – Kenneth Okonkwo In New Interview

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Veteran actor and ex-spokesperson of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Kenneth Okonkwo, has accused former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, of betrayal in the wake of internal party disputes.

In a viral interview with Symfoni which started trending on Saturday, Okonkwo, who officially exited the Labour Party in February 2025, revealed that Obi went against his advice and returned to support the embattled Julius Abure-led faction of the party, despite alleged warnings.

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According to him, Obi was misled by LP executives who claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission had recognised them.

He said, “Any politician that knows what he’s doing cannot be betrayed by another. If there is anybody that betrayed the other, I can say it emphatically that Peter Obi betrayed me.

READ ALSO: Nigeria No Longer A Democracy, Peter Obi Laments

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“The Julius Abure-led LP members lied to Obi that the Independent National Electoral Commission had accepted them and Obi surreptitiously went back to them but I told him: ‘Sir, you have made a public statement on integrity and even if INEC has accepted them, that is not a criterion for you to go back and start dealing with them because they have shown that they are not democratic. If you go back to them, they will destroy your political career and everything you have said about integrity will die.’”

He said that despite privately urging Obi not to align with a group he described as “undemocratic” and “agents of the government,” Okonkwo said Obi went ahead to publicly endorse them.

“I told Obi that these people had become agents in the hands of the government to destabilise him. What they did was absolutely illegal and unconstitutional, I told him that if he went back to them, I wouldn’t join him in doing so.

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“Thereafter, I called all the people that were in the inner circle and told them the same thing about what Obi was trying to do. I told them he wanted to go back with the Abure people and if he did, I wouldn’t go back with him because I do not swallow back my words.

READ ALSO: Teen Who Stood In Front Of Peter Obi’s Convoy Freed After Months In Kirikiri

“And after saying all those things, within like 72 hours, Obi went back to Abure’s office to publicly endorse them and while he was there talking to them, one of the leaders in that executive sent me the video to mock me that the person I was fighting for against them has come to their office to endorse them.

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“It was when INEC dissociated itself from Abure that Obi came out to start acting neutral but I told him he could not be neutral and something had to be done,” he added.

The Labour Party has been embroiled in a prolonged leadership crisis, with opposing factions laying claim to the party’s national structure.

The Abure-led faction has faced allegations of financial mismanagement and anti-democratic practices, which critics say contradict the party’s reformist image.

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Okonkwo, a known loyalist of Obi’s political ideology, cited these irregularities as his reason for quitting the party earlier in the year.

Watch video below:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1933867577651925202https://twitter.com/i/status/1933867577651925202

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Amaechi Slams Tinubu’s Policies In Fresh Outburst

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Former Minister of Transportation and two-time governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has asked the coalition opposition to kick President Bola Tinubu out of office if Nigeria is to escape its deepening economic crisis.

In a no-holds-barred interview with the BBC, Amaechi, a founding member and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, lamented the country’s deteriorating condition and signalled his willingness to help forge a new opposition coalition to rescue the nation.

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People are dying. People are starving. I myself am feeling the effects of hunger,” he said, painting a grim picture of life under the current administration.

Amaechi’s statement comes in the wake of the APC’s recent endorsement of Tinubu as its sole presidential candidate for 2027, a move Amaechi openly questioned.

READ ALSO: I Don’t Want To Join Issues With Children, Amaechi Hits Back At Wike

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While reiterating his loyalty to the party, he warned that fidelity to a political platform should never come at the cost of national conscience.

If the government is failing the country, you don’t just go along because you’re in the same party. You know that’s not right,” he stated emphatically.

Though he stopped short of confirming a 2027 presidential bid, the former minister said the option remained on the table.

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“Certainly, I believe I can make a meaningful contribution,” he added, hinting that his political journey may not yet be over.

READ ALSO: Democracy Day: Gov. Mohammed Advocates Unity, Good Governance

He spoke of widespread poverty, spiralling food insecurity, and daily tragedies that now dot the national landscape.

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Reflecting on his years as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Amaechi lamented that the number of out-of-school children then pegged at 10 million, had since ballooned.

The economic hardship, he said, had also deepened insecurity.

“The Boko Haram insurgency is not just a religious crisis. Many of those involved are driven by desperation and hunger,” he asserted, linking terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping to a broader socioeconomic collapse.

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Amaechi’s declaration added momentum to an emerging political realignment.

 

Talks were already underway among key opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, as they explored the possibility of a unified front against Tinubu in 2027.

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Even ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and once a key Tinubu ally had signalled interest in backing an opposition alliance.

But as opposition forces stir, the ruling party continues to absorb defectors, prompting fears of Nigeria drifting toward a one-party state, a scenario Amaechi warned could undermine democracy and silence dissent.

We’re thinking that if we come together and win the election, the country will certainly witness change,” he said, suggesting an urgent need for a credible alternative.

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UNN Best Graduate Wins £33,000 Com

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A student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka’s with the overall best graduating CGPA of 4.98, Chizoba Ejiofor, has secured a fully funded Commonwealth scholarship.

Education advocate and tech entrepreneur Alex Onyia, who made this known on social media on Thursday, said he had taken responsibility for supporting Ejiofor after the university failed to award him the promised N50,000 prize for academic excellence.

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I have a good news. A very good news. You remember Chizoba Ejiofor, who graduated as UNN overall best graduating student with CGPA of 4.98, that UNN refused to fulfill the N50k price promised to him?

READ ALSO: Crisis Brews In UNN As Court Restrains Varsity From Conducting Convocation Election

“I took him up as a full responsibility. We started working tirelessly together since last year to secure a fully funded scholarship, and today we have the good news,” Onyia wrote.

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Onyia revealed that Ejiofor was awarded a fully funded Commonwealth scholarship, valued at over £33,000. The package includes tuition, flight tickets, and monthly stipends.

This is fully funded scholarship from Commonwealth. Over 33 thousand pounds in scholarship, flight tickets and monthly stipends inclusive. No one can describe how happy and fulfilled I am today,” he added.

 

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