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[JUST IN] Yoruba Nation: Activists Demand Stop To Ekiti, Osun Elections, Say ‘1999 Constitution Illegal’

Published

3 years ago

March 16, 2022

As part of the agitation for an independent Yoruba Nation and the dissolution of the amalgamation of Southern and Northern Nigeria, self-determination activists have filed two suits at Federal High Courts in Ado-Ekiti and Osogbo.

They want the judiciary to stop the forthcoming governorship elections in Ekiti and Ondo States scheduled for June and July respectively.

They are praying for a declaration that the current 1999 Constitution of Nigeria is illegal, invalid and of no effect whatsoever because no referendum was conducted before it was enacted.

The members of the umbrella body Ilana Omo Oodua (IOO) Worldwide filed the suit on Wednesday through their lawyer, Tolu Babaleye.

The defendants are the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The activists include IOO leaders, Professor Banji Akintoye, from Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti; his Deputy, Professor Wale Adeniran, from Ile-Ife, Osun State; Ado-Ekiti based medical doctor, Chief Bayo Orire, and 15 others.

The applicants are demanding a total decommissioning of the 1999 Constitution to pave way for a referendum so that the indigenous people of Yoruba can secede.

On Wednesday, IOO spokesman Maxwell Adeleye told the public that INEC does not have the law that can be used to conduct elections “anywhere in Yoruba land, a region within Nigeria”.

“The Ekiti and Osun Governorship Polls and all future elections should be stopped in Yoruba land until a referendum is held for the Yoruba people to decide on the system they want for themselves within Nigeria and whether they even want to remain as Nigerians”, he noted.

Adeleye said they want: “A Declaration that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as Amended) is invalid, illegal and of no effect whatsoever by reason of its failure to satisfy the essential requirements of a referendum and national consensus expected of a valid Constitution.

“A Declaration that the preamble/introductory passage to the 1999 Constitution inserted into the Constitution by the Military Government which says ‘’we the people of Nigeria have resolved to give ourselves a Constitution’’ is a lie when.”

The suit argues that it was the Military Government that came up with the document and imposed it on the Nigerian people without their contribution.

Others requests are: “A Declaration that no valid elections whether Presidential, Governorship, National and State Assembly or Councillorship elections can be validly held under the said invalid and fraudulent Constitution as one cannot build something on nothing in law and expect it to stand.

“A Declaration that the forthcoming Ekiti State Governorship election which is scheduled to be conducted in June 2022 by the INEC cannot be validly held under the said illegal and invalid 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.

“An Order stopping the holding of the scheduled Ekiti State Governorship election coming up in June 2022 from being held as there is no valid legal framework for such an exercise because the 1999 Constitution (As Amended) under which the said Governorship election is planned to be conducted is illegal, invalid and inherently defective.

“An Order directing the Defendants jointly and severally to stay clear of Ekiti and Osun States in June and July 2022 and suspend with immediate effect the plans and arrangements they have put in place to conduct such an illegal election in Ekiti and Osun States of Nigeria.”

Adeleye called on all Yoruba people, especially, Self-determination activists in Ekiti and Osun to mobilize themselves and ensure that they are present in courts in Osogbo and Ado-Ekiti whenever the cases are called for mention.

DAILY POST

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42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

Published

14 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 42 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, as the Israeli army prepared for a new assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest city.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said there had been several air strikes around Gaza City — which the military is gearing up to capture — including one in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood that killed eight people.

Attacks were also reported elsewhere across the territory, he said, with the “total tally currently rising to 42 dead”.

The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the figure.

“The situation is extremely dangerous… Each day, each minute, there are bombings, martyrs, death and blood — we can’t take it anymore,” Al-Sabra resident Ibrahim Al-Shurafa told AFP, explaining strikes and shelling were ongoing.

“We don’t know where to go. Death follows us everywhere,” he added.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

AFP

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Venezuela Frees Eight Opposition Leaders

Published

15 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Venezuelan authorities released eight opposition leaders from jail early Sunday, including a former congressman and two Italian citizens, and granted house arrest to five others, an opposition politician said.

Most of those released had been charged with corruption in opposition-run mayoral offices.

Also set free was Congressman, Amirico de Grazia, detained amid protests that erupted during President Nicolas Maduro’s reelection in 2024.

“Today, several families are once again embracing their loved ones. We know there are many left, and we have not forgotten them; we continue to fight for everyone,” two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on X.

Opposition leaders Victor Jurado, Simon Vargas, Arelis Ojeda Escalante, Mayra Castro, Diana Berrio, Gorka Carnevalli, as well as Italian nationals Margarita Assenzo and de Grazia were released, Capriles said.

Nabil Maalouf, Valentin Gutierrez Pineda, Rafael Ramirez, Pedro Guanipa, and David Barroso were placed under house arrest.

The Italian government confirmed the release of de Grazia and Assenzo, who must appear in court to clarify the conditions of their release. It also vowed to continue working on securing the release of other detained Italians.

“We have always said, and we maintain it: we will talk to whomever we need to talk to so that there is not a single political prisoner in our Venezuela!” Capriles added.

AFP

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Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

Published

15 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Russia and Ukraine each sent back more prisoners of war on Sunday in the latest in a series of exchanges that have seen hundreds of POWs released this year, the two sides said.

Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July.

They remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since Russia’s offensive began in 2022.

“On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled” by Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

“In exchange, 146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred” to Ukraine, it added. Ukraine did not confirm any figures for the release.

Russia also said that “eight citizens of the Russian Federation—residents of the Kursk region, illegally detained” by Kyiv were also returned.

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of territory in a major setback for the Kremlin.

Russia deployed thousands of troops from its ally North Korea as part of a counterattack but did not fully reclaim the region until April.

Among the Ukrainians released on Sunday was journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Khyliuk was kidnapped in the Kyiv region in March 2022. He is finally home in Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media.

Also freed was former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, “who spent more than three years in captivity,” Zelensky’s aide Andriy Yermak wrote on X.

“In 2022, he was on the list for return, but Volodymyr voluntarily refused to be exchanged in favour of a seriously ill prisoner with whom he was sharing a cell in a Russian prison,” Yermak said.

AFP