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Enugu Guber Poll: I’m Confident of  Tribunal Victory – Edeoga

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By Eddy Ochigbo & Orkula Shaagee, Abuja

The Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in the March 18 election in Enugu State, Hon. Chijioke Edeoga, has expressed confidence and trust in the judiciary to deliver justice to him by declaring him winner of the gubernatorial contest in the state.

Edeoga, who is challenging the declaration of Peter Mba of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the election, spoke when he paid a courtesy visit to DAILY ASSET’s head office, Abuja, yesterday.

He praised the resilience of the people of Enugu State in giving him the push to seek justice over the result of the election, noting that voters in the state demonstrated a strong desire for a genuine political change in this year’s elections.

He further noted that given the declaration made by INEC which indignated the people of the state, some observers  were amazed by the vibrancy and cheerfulness with which he has carried on, especially as the unexpected declaration of Mba led to sudden deaths in the state and in some cases triggered mental ill health in some others. According to him, this is “because they couldn’t come to terms with the declaration when they know that I won the election. This is evidential.”

He noted that “In Enugu State now, we have 14 members of the House of Assembly out of 24, leaving the PDP with only 10. Labour Party  has two senators, leaving the PDP with one. LP has seven members of the House of Reps, leaving PDP with only one. It was an easy road to victory for me and the party. We have 17 LGAs in the state.

In the result of 16 LGAs that came in, LP was leading with eleven thousand votes. The result of only one LGA which is the LGA where the PDP candidate comes from was deliberately kept back, where sixteen thousand voters were accredited and they returned thirty thousand votes in other to beat the clear lead of LP.”

He observed that “There was no reason for the result from that LGA to come late or last because it is one of the closest to the INEC Headquarters. The results from the farthest and biggest LGAs had come in, that of Nkanu East was deliberately kept back, now we know, for the necessary adjustments to be made after all other results had come in, in connivance with the resident electoral commissioner who provided them with extra sheets to accommodate the alterations that ensued.”

According to him, “When this thirty thousand results came into the collation centre, all the opposition political parties protested, that it was an anomaly. And then Abuja intervened and the collation was suspended. I understand that the relevant persons:

the REC and some INEC National officers were asked to come to Abuja. People asked me to go to Abuja and I said no because the matter is clear. The law says in matters of over-voting, you cancel. So I said Abuja would do the right thing, they will apply the law and announce the proper result. But lo and behold rather than cancel what Abuja did was to scrap off sixteen thousand votes from the over-voting and now said that PDP had won by about three thousand votes. They gave LP one hundred and fifty-seven thousand and gave PDP one hundred and sixty thousand. Up till now, no one has told us the basis of that decision.

“The only issue for me was my disappointment from my naivety because I had assumed that Nigeria could work because I had thought that there are patriots in Abuja and that Abuja would apply the law. When it failed I was disappointed. Abuja had no right to allocate favours. They have no powers at all. They acted outside the law in making those allocations. We now sent a petition to Abuja.

“There are places where twenty-one thousand votes were cancelled, incident forms entered. Twenty-one thousand votes for LP against three thousand and they were my strongholds. Do you want to take into consideration these cancellations? We filed a petition in the tribunal. We are challenging INEC’s declaration on that election. The basis of our challenge are three. One, that the candidate of the PDP was not qualified to contest the election, abnitio, having submitted a forged NYSC document.

“We have uploaded the evidence to that effect. Number two, we asked the tribunal to help rectify the calculation errors because in Udenu LGA which is the LGA of the current governor what the PDP and INEC did was to re-allocate my favours.

“In a polling unit where it was clearly recoded and acknowledged and certified that LP won, for instance 80 for LP and 14 for PDP, at the point of collation, the officers deliberately moved the victory to the PDP and moved the loss to LP. And it happened consistently in Udenu to the point that we need proper calculation and to return three thousand votes. And these are in documents, certified by INEC.

“We said they are calculation errors, so please calculate properly. And the third arm is that we said they acted in variance with the Electoral Law. In the area of over-vote, you cancel. We gave example, especially with Nkanu East, the home LGA of the PDP candidate where there was clear over vote. So we are saying please apply the law on over vote.

“So we are in the tribunal, the PDP has replied. Anytime from now, the battle will begin. We are optimistic that before the matter will travel the gamut from Tribunal, Appeal to Supreme Court, the truth will prevail and justice will be done. We hope that justice will be done in our case because the injustices are glaring.”

While further espousing hope and confidence in the judiciary, Edeoga said “Our hope is in the judiciary. Even when the judiciary errs, people will know because the judiciary acts on precedents and facts, evidences, so we assume that they are going to follow the tradition. For instance, the precedence with regards to the submission of forged documents are very clear.

“The Supreme Court’s position on that is very clear. So we expect that for instance if the issuing office is called, in this case, the NYSC is called and asked did you issue this certificate? Once the NYSC said we didn’t issue it, the law expects nothing else than disqualification. We don’t expect the tribunals or the Supreme Court to depart from these precedents.

“We said it is calculation error. We didn’t allege any crime, so there is no reason why a judge who had come to effect justice would refuse to correct a calculation error when the miscalculations are obvious. The areas of our expectations do not leave much to idiosyncrasies, they follow strictly on matters that are factual and evidential.”

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Tinubu Economic Reforms Painful, Yet Necessary, Presidency again Insists

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By David Torough, Abuja

The Presidency has issued a strong rebuttal to recent criticism by a faction of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, accusing it of peddling falsehoods and failing to acknowledge the measurable gains made under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

In a statement titled “Response to Afenifere Faction’s Deceitful Statement on President Bola Tinubu’s Midterm,” the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, described the group’s remarks as biased, misleading and aligned with partisan opposition rhetoric.
The presidency, while defending the administration’s economic reforms and governance record, called on opposition leaders and their supporters to go beyond criticism and present realistic policy alternatives.
“It is now pertinent to inquire from opposition leaders about alternative strategies they would propose in contrast to this administration’s extensive list of significant achievements currently benefiting Nigerians in real-time,” Dare said.In response to Afenifere’s claim that Nigeria had suffered “economic deforms” under Tinubu, the statement pointed to bold reforms — notably the removal of petrol subsidies and the unification of the naira’s exchange rate — as crucial steps in halting fiscal decline and restoring investor confidence.According to Dare, the removal of fuel subsidies saved over $10 billion in 2023 alone, while the floating of the naira has contributed to a growing foreign reserve base, now at $38.1 billion, and a trade surplus of N18.86 trillion.Inflation, while still elevated, is reportedly on a downward trend, with April 2025 data showing a reduction to 23.71%, and food inflation moderating to 21.26%. These improvements, Dare argued, signal macroeconomic stabilisation after years of policy distortions.Complementing the reforms are social interventions, such as cash transfers to over 5.7 million poor households, the Students’ Loan Scheme (NELFUND), increased stipends for youth corps members, free CNG kits for transporters, and a N70,000 minimum wage proposal.Dare also listed notable achievements: 900,000+ beneficiaries of the Presidential Loan and Grant Scheme, $10 billion in cleared FX debt, N50 billion released to resolve ASUU strikes, 1,000+ revitalised primary healthcare centres, N75 billion in palliatives to states, 3.84% GDP growth in Q4 2024, $50 billion in new FDI commitments as well as $800 million raised from solid minerals processing in 2024.“Dismissing these reforms as ‘unforced errors’ shows a lack of policy understanding and underestimates the scale of fiscal dysfunction this administration inherited,” Dare noted.On allegations of increased governance costs and failure to implement the Oronsaye Report, the presidency clarified that while full implementation of the report is ongoing, important steps have been taken to restore fiscal discipline.Nigeria’s fiscal deficit reportedly declined from 5.4% of GDP in 2023 to 3.0% in 2024, with debt service-to-revenue ratio reduced to under 40%. Revenue generation rose to N6 trillion in Q1 2025 — a reflection, according to the presidency, of reforms that include the elimination of Ways and Means financing.Reacting to accusations of favouritism and corruption in palliative distribution and mega-project execution, the presidency cited the suspension of Humanitarian Affairs Minister Betta Edu over a corruption probe as proof of the administration’s commitment to accountability.In 2024, the EFCC secured 4,111 convictions and recovered over N364 billion, alongside millions in foreign currencies. In what Dare called a “landmark recovery,” a 725-unit estate in Abuja was forfeited to the federal government in May 2025 — the agency’s biggest asset recovery to date.On charges that Tinubu’s government is veering toward authoritarianism, Dare maintained that democratic institutions remain intact.He cited the Supreme Court’s upholding of opposition victories in Kano, Plateau, and Abia as evidence of judicial independence.Criticism of INEC’s appointments, he said, lacks concrete evidence that any of the appointees are card-carrying members of the ruling APC.He also dismissed concerns over centralisation of power, especially regarding security architecture, noting that discussions on state policing are ongoing and subject to national security assessments.On the security front, the presidency reported the neutralisation of over 13,500 terrorists and the arrest of 7,000 suspects in the past year. The administration, it said, is investing in food security through agricultural mechanisation, and expanding access to tech skills under the 3MTT programme targeting 150,000 youths.Dare further highlighted the establishment of regional development commissions across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones as a step toward more inclusive growth.While Afenifere accused the federal government of fomenting discord within opposition parties, the presidency described the claim as “baseless” and challenged opposition actors to focus on policy instead of conspiracy.“Economic reforms are undoubtedly laying the foundation for long-term stability,” the statement read.“The Moody’s upgrade from Caa1 to B3, with a Stable Outlook, is proof that Nigeria is turning a corner.”Sunday Dare concluded with a call for constructive engagement, urging critics and political actors to abandon partisanship and join hands with the administration in building a better Nigeria.“Under President Tinubu’s leadership, Nigeria is turning the corner. From stabilising the naira and curbing inflation to reducing debt burdens and expanding access to education and health, the administration delivers bold reforms with actual results.”He acknowledged the hardship being experienced by Nigerians but expressed confidence that continued reforms would bring microeconomic relief in the short term and sustained growth in the long run.

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NDIC Moves to Enhance Deposit Insurance Core Principles

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By Tony Obiechina Abuja

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has called for feedback from financial services industry stakeholders in the country, policy makers and the general public towards the ongoing revision of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) Core Principles for Effective Deposit Insurance System.

The proposed revision launched by IADI in May 2025, is a significant step towards enhancing the resilience and relevance of deposit insurance frameworks in the face of an evolving global financial landscape.
Specifically, the revision is aimed at comprehensively addressing structural changes, including digital innovation, the growing role of deposit insurers in resolution, and lessons learned from the banking turmoil in March 2023, which is the most significant systemic stress event since the 2007-09 global financial crisis.
The IADI Core Principles are used by jurisdictions, including Nigeria, as a benchmark for assessing the quality of their deposit insurance systems and for identifying gaps in their deposit insurance practices and measures to address them. The Core Principles are also used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in the context of the Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP), to assess the effectiveness of jurisdictions’ deposit insurance systems and practices.According to a statement by Hawwau Gambo Head, Communication & Public Affairs of the NDIC, the first set of the Core Principles was issued jointly by the IADI and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) in June 2009 while the document is subjected to periodic revision order to keep it up-to-date with evolving trends on the global financial system landscape.”As a founding and committed member of IADI, NDIC recognizes the importance of the ongoing revision and hereby invites stakeholders and the general public to actively participate in the process by reviewing the document on the link https://ndic.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Draft-Revised-IADI-Core-Principles.pdf”, the statement added.

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COAS Relocates to Benue, Leads Fresh Operation over Herdsmen Killings

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By Attah Edeh, Makurdi

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, has relocated to Makurdi, the Benue State capital, over the incessant killings of innocent villagers by herders and militia groups.The killing, which is becoming almost a daily occurrence, has left many dead, several others injured and maimed, and several houses burnt, leaving many homeless.

It was gathered that Lt Gen Oluyede departed Abuja yesterday morning, accompanied by his Principal Stafftaff Officers (PSOs) and other top officers at the Army Headquarters, to the state to have an on-the-spot assessment of the situation on the ground.
The COAS did not address the media, traditional rulers and heads of other security agencies in the state.
However, Governor Alia told the Benue Traditional Council and state Security Council members the purpose of the visit of the army chief.Alia said the COAS had brought a message of hope to the people of Benue in the face of the renewed unprovoked attacks and killings perpetrated by armed herders.Sources further said the army chief has ordered the deployment of more troops to the state to give the militia and other armed groups terrorising the people of the state the battle of their lives.In Benue State, the source said, the COAS will hold strategic meetings with all operational and unit commanders to brainstorm on the way forward as well as review the ongoing operations with a view to end the killings.The COAS will also visit troops’ locations and operational bases in the state to interact with troops and boost their morale and fighting spirit.The COAS is also expected to visit villages that have been attacked and reassure residents of their safety and the resolve of the Nigerian army to protect the lives and property of law-abiding citizens.The COAS is said to be unhappy with reports of daily killings in Benue that have ravaged the state in the past few weeks and may order some strategic changes, including the redeployment of some commanders to head some of the operational units on ground.Oluyede, while in the state, will personally lead troops in the operation on the battlefront. He is expected to spend some days in the state before relocating back to Abuja.Recall that the attacks in Benue have been described as ethnic cleansing by many, as gunmen suspected to be herdsmen have embarked on a killing spree, attacking villagers in their villages using sophisticated guns and machetes.Last weekend gunmen killed 43 persons in renewed attacks carried out on several communities of Gwer West and Apa Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Benue State.The attacks occurred barely one week after herdsmen militia shot a priest, Rev. Fr Solomon Atongo, along the Makurdi-Naka road and attacked four communities in Gwer West LGA, including the village of Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, killing 42 persons, including a mobile police officer.

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