Headline
#NigeriaElection2023: EU Observation Mission Releases Preliminary Report, Scores INEC Low, Others
Published
1 year agoon
By
EditorThe Electoral Observation Mission of the European Union, on Monday, presented a preliminary report of its observations of Nigeria’s 2023 general election at a press conference held at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
Chief Observer of the Mission, Barry Andrews, in his address, disclosed that the mission had a total of 110 observers, including 11 core team members, 14 long-term observers, and 96 short-term observers, including delegates of the European Parliament.
He further said the elections were marred by cases of abuse of incumbency, widespread allegations of vote buying, disinformation of voters, and a lack of planning in critical stages of the electoral process.
READ ALSO: #NigeriaElection2023: Obi Wins In Abia With Wide Margin
“Fundamental freedoms of assembly and movement were largely respected, yet the full enjoyment of the latter was impeded by insufficient planning, insecurity, and the prevailing naira and fuel shortages. Abuse of incumbency by various political office holders distorted the playing field and there were widespread allegations of vote buying.”
“Overall, stakeholders had expressed confidence in INEC’s independence, professionalism, and voter information efforts, this decreased ahead of elections.
“INEC lacked efficient planning and transparency during critical stages of the electoral process, while on election day, trust in INEC was seen to further reduce due to delayed polling processes, and information gaps related to much-anticipated access to results on its Results Viewing Portal.
“The introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the IReV for the 2023 elections was perceived as an important step to ensure the integrity and credibility of elections. However, delayed training of technical personnel, an inadequate mock testing exercise, and a lack of information on the election technologies diminished expectations and left room for speculation and uncertainty,” he said.
While commending citizens for their turnout at the polls, Andrew stated that the EU would continue to monitor the collation of results as well as the March 11 governorship and state assembly elections, and would present its final reports three months after the end of the election processes, in order not to interfere with the process.
READ ALSO: BREAKING: Atiku Floors Tinubu, Obi In Akwa Ibom Presidential Election
“The mission continues to follow the ongoing process related to the presidential and National Assembly elections to its conclusion and will continue its activities until the 11th of March for the governorship and local state council elections. In three months, after the end of the process, our mission will deliver a final report and will include recommendations, addressing issues,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Europen Parliament Delegates, Miss Evin Incir, expressed concern that less than 10 per cent of the total candidates in the elections were women, stating that “the next government and parliament should heed to the manifestos of the main political parties of Nigeria, which call for affirmative action, such as quotas.”
You may like
Edo Guber Final List : Group Knocks LP, Commends, INEC, Yakubu
Full List: INEC Displays Edo Governorship Candidates Of Political Parties
19 Parties To Feature In Ondo Governorship Election – INEC
INEC Disowns LP’s National Convention
INEC To Publish Edo Gov Candidates’ Credentials Saturday
INEC Gives Updates On Edo, Ondo Guber Polls
Headline
Teenager Jailed For Life For Murder Of 16-year-old Boy At House Party
Published
1 hour agoon
May 4, 2024By
EditorA teenager who stabbed Mikey Roynon, 16, to death with a “zombie knife” has been jailed for life.
Shane Cunningham, 16, fatally stabbed Mikey Roynon in the neck with a large hunting-style knife during a 16th birthday house party in Bath, Somerset in June 2023.
Mr Justice Saini sentenced him to life in jail with a minimum sentence of 16 years before he could be released for parole after he was convicted of murder.
Teenager jailed for life for murder of boy, 16, at house party
Shane Cunningham
His co-accused – Cartel Bushnell and Leo Knight, both 16 – were convicted of manslaughter after being acquitted of the more serious charge.
READ ALSO: Yahoo: Internet Fraud Training School Proprietor Jailed 10 Years In Uyo
A judge sentenced Bushnell to nine years of youth detention, while Knight was given nine-and-a-half years’ youth detention.
The judge ruled that all three could be identified despite their age after an application by the PA news agency.
Cunningham had claimed he was acting in self-defence, claiming during the trial that Mikey had swung a knife towards friends in the garden of the property. But the jury saw through his story following a trial at Bristol crown court.
Mikey collapsed on the driveway with heavy bleeding from a single knife wound to his neck.
READ ALSO: Man Jailed 27 Years For Stealing N2.3m In Ekiti
Police, paramedics and doctors soon arrived at the scene in Weston, a north-west suburb of Bath, but Mikey died.
The defendants ran off and threw away their weapons, two of which were recovered by police.
Detective Inspector Mark Newbury said: “That three boys armed themselves with knives to go to a teenage girl’s 16th birthday party is utterly unconscionable.
“Mikey went to that party to socialise and to have a good time. Instead, he was attacked with a horrifying weapon, suffered a catastrophic injury and tragically lost his life.
“Mikey was a much loved teenage boy and his family have been left totally devastated.
READ ALSO: 22-year-old Lady Jailed For Assaulting Lagos Official, Ignoring Pedestrian Bridge
“They have shown incredible bravery and have courageously spoken out against knife crime since his death, which is something they should never have to do.
“Since Mikey’s death, other young lives have been lost across our policing area and as a result we have launched a proactive operation to tackle and disrupt serious violence and knife crime involving young people.
“However, we know police enforcement alone won’t solve the problem and we’re working closely with our local authority partners, our colleagues in education and health and the Violence Reduction Partnership to identify the root causes and divert young people away from criminality.
“Our communities are also key and we’d like to encourage parents to talk to their children about knife crime – to make sure that they understand the terrible consequences carrying a knife can have and also how to report if they have concerns about someone they know carrying a knife.”
Headline
Shock As Woman Who Visited Hospital For Scan Was Told She’s Dead
Published
3 hours agoon
May 3, 2024By
EditorA woman was left shocked when she turned up to a hospital scan only to be told by staff that her records showed that she was already ‘’dead.”
Susan Johnson from Scarborough was left ‘shaking by a leaf’ after staff at the Bridlington Hospital in Yorkshire told her their records showed she’d been dead for four months.
The incident left Susan, 62, a retired housekeeper, baffled that her husband Bob needed to bring her a strong coffee to help calm her nerves.
The mother-of-two told BBC News: ‘I gave them my letter and their first words were, “ooh you’re dead”.
‘I said, “pardon?”. I was in shock.
‘Then they put something on the computer so I could have the scan and then they just said, “bye” and that’s it.’
It is unclear how the mistake happened as when Susan contacted her GP, they told her that the mistake had been fixed.
However, when she contacted the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the call handler told her she was still marked as already dead on the system.
‘On the computer you’re dead,’ she was told. Susan then informed her she couldn’t be dead as she was on the phone and talking.
READ ALSO: Obesity’: Father Forced 6-year-old To Run On Treadmill, Son Dies [VIDEO]
The error meant that Susan’s carer’s allowance for looking after her disabled husband Bob briefly stopped, though this has now been fixed.
She said she shut down completely after the news and said there was nobody to talk to about the mistake.
Scarborough Medical Group told the BBC they’d received an electronic instruction about the ‘death’ from Primary Care Support England (PCSE).
READ ALSO: LIST: Nigerian Passport Ranked Among Worst Globally
Susan is concentrating on her hobbies of gardening and knitting as she recovers from the shock.
An NHS spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of an issue involving a civil death registration being incorrectly recorded against a patient’s medical record.
‘This was removed within 24 hours of it being reported to us in March 2023 and the patient was re-registered by their GP.
‘We would encourage the patient to contact us directly so we can explain further.’
Headline
PHOTOS: Sandhurst Trained: UK High Commissioner Hosts First Nigerian Female To Graduate From Premier British Military Institution
Published
8 hours agoon
May 3, 2024By
EditorThe British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, has congratulated Princess Owowoh on making history at the United Kingdom’s Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS).
Taking to X.com on Thursday, Montgomery expressed his pleasure in meeting Owowoh, who was accompanied by an officer from the Nigerian Defence Academy.
Sharing photos, he wrote, “I was pleased to meet 2nd Lt. Princess Owowoh, the first Nigerian female officer cadet to graduate from the UK’s
#RMASandhurst, accompanied by Lt. Col Nyiam from the #NDefenceAcademy to congratulate her on making history, hear about her experience, and reflect on our Nigeria-British relationship.”
READ ALSO: Shell Set To Build Gas Pipelines In Oyo
Owowoh graduated from the RMAS as the first-ever Nigerian female officer on April 12.
She joined the NDA in Kaduna in 2018, where she was appointed as a cadet lance corporal in her second year.
She rose to a cadet sergeant in her fourth year and was appointed company senior under Officer Charlie (CSUO C) in her fifth year.
Owowoh held the appointment with two other female counterparts and made history by becoming the first female to hold the position of CSUO at the academy.
During her fourth year, she completed the academic component of the commissioning course, achieving first-class honours in biological sciences.
See the photos below:
Obaseki Swears In Five New Judges
Teenager Jailed For Life For Murder Of 16-year-old Boy At House Party
Delta Lady Dies After Friends Allegedly Pushed Her Into Pot Of Boiling Pepper [Photos]
Trending
- Politics3 days ago
Why Candidate Who Needs Interpreter Can’t Be Edo Gov – Shaibu
- News2 days ago
Ex-policeman Who filmed Wife Having Wex With Her Superior Found Guilty Of Stalking
- Business4 days ago
Customers Panic As CBN Bans Opay, Palmpay, Others’ New Accounts
- News4 days ago
Ooni: Suspended Benin Palace Functionaries Banished
- News3 days ago
JUST IN: FG Approves Salary Increase For Civil Servants
- Metro2 days ago
Mother Of Four Hacked To Death By Neighbour, Son In Edo
- News4 days ago
BREAKING: JAMB Releases 2024 UTME Results
- Metro2 days ago
Police Foil Cult Initiation In Edo, Arrest 35 Suspects
- News4 days ago
2024 UTME: JAMB Withholds Results Of 64,624 Candidates
- News2 days ago
Why Abia Policeman Dropped His Rifle, Uniform, Walked Away From His Job – Report