POLITICS
CVR Deadline: Last Minute Rush at INEC Office in Lagos

Scores of applicants seeking to register for the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) on Sunday besieged INEC headquarters in Lagos in the last minute rush to beat the July 31 deadline.
Newsmen report that INEC Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) which started on June 28, 2021 was initially billed to end on June 30 before it was extended to July 31.
Correspondent who monitored the closing observed that many applicants were still struggling to get registered to vote in the forthcoming 2023 elections.
Many applicants defied all odds and continued to wait till night to get registered.
Speaking to newsmen, Ms Sandra Ifeanyi, one of the last minute applicants who just got registered, said she was able to register after much struggle for about six hours.
Ifeanyi said: “I came here at 6.00 a.m. I thank God that I finally got registered to have my PVCs. It has been a long day for me.”
Also, Mr Kanu Nekowa, an applicant who was still struggling to register, said that the last minute rush was because many people got to know late that their votes would count.
Nekowa said,” Many of us didn’t believe in the system before, that is the reason why many people didn’t want to come out at first.”
Speaking on the crowd, Mr Muyiwa Yusuf, INEC Head of ICT Department, who is in charge of the enrollment machines, told newsmen that the commission would do its best to capture as many as possible.
Yusuf said that the commission was attending to applicants with 10 enrollment machines at the headquarters and had attended to more than 300 as at noon.
According to him, those who have issues with transfer of registration, replacement of lost or defaced PVCs were being handled under canopy by staff while some other INEC officials were also using phones to address some of those issues.
He said that those who wanted to register newly or had issue with their finger prints in past elections were separated from others to be attended to in the enrollment centre, to make the exercise smooth and seamless.
Yusuf said that the commission would attend to all applicants that had been given tally number since morning.
As at the time of filling this reports at 7.00 p.m., many of the applicants were still waiting to be attended to.
In Lagos State as at July 18, those who registered online were 640,560 but many of them had not completed their registration, while those who completed the exercise were 451,156, according to INEC. (NAN)
NEWS
NASC: Senate Confirms Nnanna Uzor Kalu as Commissioner For S/east

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Dr Nnanna Uzor Kalu as a commissioner in the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) to represent the South-East geopolitical zone.
The confirmation followed the presentation and adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service, chaired by Sen.
Cyril Fasuyi, during plenary.Kalu’s confirmation was previously stepped down in March due to a petition filed against him.
At the time, the senate had confirmed 12 out of 13 nominees for the NASC, withholding only the nomination from the South-East pending resolution of the matter.
Presenting the report, Fasuyi explained that the petition had been thoroughly investigated and dismissed by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions.
The committee found no grounds to disqualify the nominee.
“In line with the findings and recommendations of the relevant committees, the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service recommends the confirmation of Dr Nnanna Uzor Kalu,” Fasuyi said.
In his remarks, Senate President Godswill Akpabio thanked both committees for handling the issue with diligence and fairness.
He congratulated Kalu on his confirmation and urged him to serve with integrity.
“I urge the newly confirmed commissioner to uphold equity, fairness, and constitutional values while representing the South-East in the commission,” Akpabio said.(NAN)
NEWS
APC Seeks Arrest of Zamfara PDP Women Leader

The Zamfara chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned the calls for violence by the State Women Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hajiya Rabi Madawaki.
In a statement issued in Gusau on Tuesday by the State APC Publicity Secretary, Yusuf Idris, the party called on security agencies to thoroughly investigate the matter.
Idris said, “We call on the security agencies to immediately arrest the women leader, Hajiya Rabi Madawaki, over her uncultured utterances.
.“APC as a strong opposition party in the state will not be intimidated by any threats from the Zamfara PDP government and they should know that the will of the people must prevail.
“The state PDP Women Leader, Hajiya Rabi Madawaki, made the statement in the presence of the Governor’s wife, Hajiya Huriyya Dauda.
“The threat and intimidation by the PDP women leader came out with a completely different but savage way of forcing out support and subsequently, votes for the governor, Mr Dauda Lawal in the 2027 governorship election.
“Madawaki said in the presence of governor’s wife in Hausa language, at a gathering held in Gusau on Friday that translated as ‘anyone who does not vote for Dauda, we will maim, beat, kill him, (zamu ci ubanshi zamu yi mashi duka)’.
According to him, in a civilised scoiety, elections are always supposed to be free, fair and non violent.
Idris said, “President Bola Tinubu’s administration is trying to remove such threats to lives and property as well as any form of intimidation from politics.
“The Zamfara chapter of the APC will not be scared by any form of intimidation and harassment or any act of violence.” (NAN)
POLITICS
Youth Leader Urges Stakeholders to Rally behind Dickson for 2027

From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa
A Youth Leader from Bayelsa West Senatorial District, Alhaji Letugbene has called on stakeholders in Ekeremor and Sagbama Local Government Areas of Bayelsa State to close ranks and work together to return the Senator representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District, Seriake Dickson to the National Assembly come 2027.
Letugbene, who made the call recently said, Senator Dickson has performed creditably since he was elected and should be supported by all to continue his good work in the Senate, as there is no doubt in his political experience and leadership abilities and competence. He particularly, appealed to the stakeholders and people of Ekeremor to rally round Senator Dickson because he remains the only and best option for the people of Bayelsa West who are clamouring for true representation.”I want to call on my people in Ekeremor to join us to work together to return Senator Seriake Dickson back to the Senate in 2027.He has done well since he was elected and I’m convinced he will even do better for us” he said.According to him, Senator Dickson deserves the support of Ekeremor because he has impacted every community, noting that as a two-term governor, he cited several key projects in the LGA and appointed sons and daughters into key positions of trust, while as a federal lawmaker, he continues to impact the people positively.Letugbene, who is the National Vice Chairman of the Third Phase of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), also asserted, that Senator Dickson has taken the gauntlet left by the late Ijaw leader, Pa Edwin Clark, to face fire for the Ijaw Nation when it mattered most, noting that he stood his ground against intimidation and oppression to speak truth to power when issues affecting his people are on the front burner in the Red Chamber.He said Senator Dickson has remained vocal, courageous and fearless in the National Assembly, condemning the marginalization and oppression of the Ijaw Nation as well as other ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta, while demanding equity, fairness and justice for the people.Letugbene, however, bemoaned the actions of a few misguided stakeholders from Ekeremor who are whipping up sentiments against Senator Dickson through propaganda and claims that Sagbama is marginalizing Ekeremor over the Senate seat, urging them not to spread falsehood as the zoning formula in the area no longer existed and that anyone is free from either LGAs to contest the Senate and House of Representatives election in 2027.The ex-agitator, who passed a ‘vote of confidence’ on Senator Dickson, also enjoined beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme from Ekeremor LGA to support the federal lawmaker because of his assertive and unwavering commitment to the upliftment and betterment of Bayelsa West, the Ijaw people and the Niger Delta in the Nigerian Federation.