Good morning, Nigeria, Welcome to the Editor roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Monday, 13th November 2023.
1. The Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party on Sunday cried foul as Governor Hope Uzodimma, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, was declared the winner of Saturday’s governorship poll in Imo State by the Independent National Electoral Commission. The electoral body affirmed Uzodimma’s re-election, having won in all the 27 local government areas of the state.
2. Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has said his refinery has secured a licence to refine more than 300,000 barrels of Nigerian crude per day and will begin to process gasoline soon. Dangote said this in an interview in Riyadh on the sidelines of the Saudi-Nigeria business roundtable, according to Bloomberg.
3. The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, says the Federal Government has achieved a lot in the fight against oil theft. Matawalle, in an interview, said many practical gains had been recorded in the resolve to end oil theft in the Niger Delta region. He also said the country was hopeful of producing 1.9 million barrels of crude oil per day before the end of the year.
4. The All Progressives Congress Governorship candidate, Usman Ododo, has been announced winner of the just concluded November 11 governorship election in Kogi State. Ododo won with 446,237 votes, defeating his closest rival, Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party, who garnered 259,052, while Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party pulled 46,362 votes.
5. The Independent National Electoral Commission has adjourned the collation of governorship election results from the local government areas in Bayelsa State till 12 noon on Monday. The Head of Department, Voter Education and Publicity INEC office, Yenagoa, Mr. Wilfred Ifogah, announced this to party agents, election observers and journalists at the state’s collation centre on Sunday.
6. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday, fixed Saturday November 18, 2023, to conduct elections in wards in Ogori/Magogo where it earlier suspended elections over irregularities. INEC, in a statement by its National Commissioner & Member Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, however said the conduct of the proposed fresh elections would be “subject to the Returning Officer’s determination of the application of the Margin of Lead Principle.”
7. The candidate of the People Democratic party(PDP) Senator Dino Melaye has rejected the result of Saturday’s governorship election. Melaye described the election as a sham and charade, saying “the purported APC victory was a pure daylight robbery that can not withstand democratic test in all measure”.
8. Governorship candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi State, Murtala Ajaka, has alleged irregularities in Saturday’s election. Ajaka said he won’t challenge the outcome of the poll in court, saying it will be a waste of time. He spoke when he appeared on Channels TV on Sunday.
9. Senate President Godswill Akpabio has described Nigeria’s legislature as the least misunderstood arm of government, saying the body has always been the subject of attacks and ridicule. He spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun State, at the 100th birthday colloquium in honour Senator Kunle Oyero, a member of the Senate in the Second Republic, representing Ogun Central.
10. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has welcomed the decision of the Senate to probe alleged admission racketeering in universities, saying it would be vindicated. It will be recalled that the Senate had on Wednesday, agreed to investigate allegations of admission racketeering in the nation’s universities, following a motion moved by Senator Onyeka Nwebonyi,Ebonyi North.
