BREAKING NEWS

  Presidential flag bearer of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi has been declared the winner of the presidential election for Cross River State. In the final results released early on Tuesday by the State collation Officer, Engr. Prof. Akpofure Rim-Rukeh, on behalf of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Obi polled a total of 179,917 votes to defeat his closest rivals, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed  Tinubu  of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who got 130,520 while the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar garnered 95,425. According to Rim-Rukeh, the total registered voters in the state for the presidential poll stood at 1,691,642, out of which 416,968 were valid votes, while 24,608 were rejected, adding up to 441,576 total votes.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has faulted the poor conduct of last Saturday’s elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Unverified reports of electoral rigging have been making the rounds on different social media platforms leading to demand for cancellation of results announcement. There were also reports of violence as well as wanton intimidation of voters in different parts of the country especially in Lagos. Falana, who spoke in an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday, insisted the electoral commission had performed below par. The legal expert alleged compromise on the part of security agencies, state governors as well as INEC officials. While urging the electoral commission to go back to the drawing board, Falana advocated strict prosecution of electoral offenders across the country. He said: “I’ve not been impressed by the very disappointing outing on the part of the Independent National Electoral Commission. Nigerians’ had been

The 2023 presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has been declared the winner of the polls in Zamfara state. Tinubu garnered 298,396 votes to win the state while his colleague from the Peoples Democratic Party,  Atiku Abubakar  polled 193,978. In addition, Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) polled 4,044 votes with the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi scoring 1,660 votes. Announcing the results in Gusau, Zamfara state’s capital city, the collation officer for the state’s presidential election, Professor Kashim Shehu affirmed that the former Lagos state governor, won 12 out of the 14 Local Government Areas in the state. From data gathered from the state on the election, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP won the remaining two LGAs. According to Professor Shehu, the votes in 167 polling units were cancelled due to over-voting, insecurity and disruptions by thugs in the various locations. He also announced that the total number of registered

  The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential standard bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is currently ahead of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival, Atiku Abubakar and other candidates in Saturday’s election in Kogi State. The former Lagos State governor has won in 12 out of 13 LGAs so far declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The Labour Party presidential candidate,  Peter Obi , is yet to win any. Kogi State has 21 LGAs . Mopa-Muro LGA: Registered Voters – 26,827 Accredited voters – 8,971 APC 4,935 PDP 2,319 LP – 718 Total Valid Votes: 8,731 Rejected Votes 182 Total Votes Cast 8,913 Ogori-Magogo LGA : Registered voters – 17,538 Accredited voters – 5,131 APC – 2,008 PDP – 2,075 LP – 784 Total Valid Votes – 4,954 Rejected Votes – 169 Total Votes Cast – 5,123 Kogi/Koto Karfi LGA: Registered voters – 63,347 Total Accredited voters – 24188 APC – 13,472 LP 1,040 PDP – 8,825 Valid Votes – 23,619 Rejected votes – 569 Total Vote cast – 24,188

  Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has won the presidential election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.   Obi secured 281,717 votes, Bola Tinubu of the ruling APC got 90,902 votes while Atiku Abubakar of the PDP got 74,199 votes. A total of 478,923 people were accredited to vote in Abuja, meaning Mr Obi secured about 59 per cent of the votes cast. Tinubu got 19 per cent of the votes while Atiku got 15 per cent of the votes in the Nigerian capital.   The Federal Capital Territory has six area councils—Gwagwalada, Abaji, Kwali, Gwagwalada, Bwari and Abuja Municipal. Out of the six area councils, Labour Party won four, while the APC won two.    See the final results for Abuja as announced by INEC below. Registered Voters 1526902 Accredited Voters: 478923 A 490 AA 506 AAC 215 ADC 768 ADP 585 APC 90,902 APGA 1,362 APM 297 APP 146 BP 746 LP 281,717 NNPP 4,517 NRM 294 PDP 74,194 PRP 131 SDP 233 YPP 335 ZLP 2,631 Total Valid Vote: 460071 Total Rejected Vote: 18581

  Canadian singer, The Weeknd has made history as the first artist to surpass 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify, days after releasing a remix of his track Die for You with Ariana Grande.   The news was confirmed by the digital music service on Monday, and the new milestone puts him way ahead of  Miley Cyrus, who has 82.5 million listeners, Taylor Swift with 80.3 million, and rapper Drake, who has 68.6 million, according to Billboard.   His latest collaboration, which was an instant hit with fans, marks the fourth time that he joined forces with Grande to work on a song.   The latest milestone comes days after releasing his televised concert, Live at SoFi Stadium, which documented one of his sold-out shows in Los Angeles.   Over his career, the Canadian singer has won four Grammy Awards, 20 Billboard Music Awards and has been nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy.   In 2021, the Toronto-based musician's hit Blinding Lights became the first song in the history of the Billboard Ho

  The Central Bank of Nigeria has debunked reports claiming President Buhari has ordered the recirculation of the old N500 and N1000 notes.    A fake circular shared by some Nigerians including the first lady of Nigeria, Mrs Aisha Buhari, claimed the President gave the order on February 20. However, in a tweet shared this morning, the CBN described the report as ‘’Fake News''.

  A woman stormed a hospital in the UK to confront her husband and the side chic he got pregnant.   The husband, named Desmond, was taking his pregnant girlfriend to the antenatal unit of the hospital when his wife confronted them. The wife explained that she used her papers to bring the man to the UK only for him to begin cheating on her.   She added that because his visa is about to expire, he got someone else pregnant so that he can have a child who is a citizen and get a chance to remain in the UK.   As she called out her husband, she also called out the side chic and named multiple other women her husband has allegedly been cheating with.   T he heartbroken wife went on to tell Desmond to divorce her so that he can move on with his pregnant girlfriend.

   young lady identified as Promise Ekong from Boki Local Government Area of Cross River state, has died in an Abuja hotel.   It was gathered that Promise, who concluded her one year compulsory NYSC programme in November 2022, died at Stanzel Grand Resort, 5th Avenue, in Gwarimpa.   The management of the hotel is claiming that Promise drowned in their swimming pool.   However, her death is still shrouded in controversy as the family alleges foul play by the police.  

  The US military has shot down another unidentified object that it says flew near sensitive military sites and could have been used for spying. The object was shot over Lake Huron in Michigan at 2.42pm local time on Sunday, February 12 on President Biden's orders. A US F-16 jet fired a missile at about 20,000ft amid concerns that its altitude and flight path could endanger civilian planes. It is the fourth incident in just over a week and the third in as many days - after objects were shot down in Alaska and Canada on Friday and Saturday.   A Pentagon officials have reportedly described the latest object as having "an octagonal structure with strings hanging off but no discernible payload". On Friday 4 February, the US military downed a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it said had traversed sensitive military sites across North America. On Friday 10 Friday, a second "car-sized" object was shot down over sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaska.

  Nigerian fintech startup, Bamboo, has received a digital sub-broker licence from the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to operate in its capital market and list securities on its platform. The licence ensures oversight of its relationship with its sponsoring broker, Lambeth Capital, and the ability to form partnerships with multiple brokers. It also allows the company to strengthen its relationships with financial service providers to offer its Application Programming Interface (API) services. Launched in 2019, Bamboo is an online brokerage app that allows Africans to invest in domestic and international asset classes. Users can invest fractional amounts in their favourite publicly traded US companies, including Tesla, Apple, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, and fixed-income products, via the app. Bamboo claims it began the application process for the SEC’s digital sub-broker licence in 2021, including a thorough examination of the organisation’s finances

  The management of Chrisland schools on Sunday February 12, has narrated their own side of the incident that led to the death of a 12-year-old student, Whitney Adeniran.    The student died on Thursday, Feb. 9, after she slumped during the school?s inter-house sports activities at Agege Stadium, Lagos State. The girl?s parents, Michael and Blessing Adeniran took to social media on Saturday night, Feb. 11 to demand a probe into the death of their daughter.    Whitney?s mother said her daughter was not ill prior to the inter-house sports day and when she asked the doctor at the hospital the cause of her daughter?s death, the doctor said it appears to be cardiac arrest. Reacting, Chrisland School explained that about two weeks prior, Whitney had complained of ill health and chose not to participate in the school?s march-past.   The statement read, ?The management and staff of Chrisland Schools Limited, with a deep sense of loss, announce the death of our precious student, Whitney Adenira

  The Lagos state government has ordered the temporary closure of Chrisland school in Opebi-Ikeja.   The school is currently embroiled in controversy following the death of one of its pupils, 12 year old Whytney Adeniran, who died during their interhouse sports day last Thursday, February 9. A statement released by the state government this evening says the school is closed pending the outcome of an investigation into the unfortunate incident.    "LASG ORDERS CLOSURE OF CHRISLAND SCHOOL    The Lagos State Ministry of Education has ordered the temporary closure of Chrisland School, Opebi-Ikeja, following the reported death of a student of the School, Whytney Adeyemi.    A release signed by the State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo said the closure was ordered pending the outcome of a full investigation into the unfortunate incident."

  The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has threatened to fine Sterling Bank for hoarding the new Naira notes made available to the financial institutions for public disbursement. According to the Deputy Director of the  CBN , Oluwole Owoeye, about N6 million was found hoarded in the Sterling Bank branch located in Ado-Ekiti, with the firm’s Auto Teller Machines (ATM) empty. This was disclosed in a trending video seen by Ripples Nigeria on Monday. Owoeye said Sterling Bank had been informed of the N1 million penalty. Recall that deposit money banks (DMBs) have been accused by the central bank and President Muhammadu Buhari of sabotaging the transition from the old Naira to new banknotes. “I am currently at Sterling Bank, on Bank Road as part of the new naira notes monitoring compliance with the guidelines by CBN. They have N6 million, which they collected from the bank for almost two weeks, they have not disbursed any. “They said they are yet to configure their ATMs, I do not know why that

  The Senate president, Ahmed Lawan has won the final battle of who will represent Yobe north as senatorial candidate. The apex court on Monday declared Lawan as the authentic candidate of the  All Progressives Congress  (APC) to represent the senatorial district at the 2023 general elections, putting to rest the ambition of Bashir Sheriff Machina. In its lead ruling on Monday, Justice Centus Nweze criticized Machina’s strategy of starting the lawsuit at the Federal High Court Damaturu division by way of an originating summons and without using oral evidence to support fraud charges. With a split decision of three to two, the Supreme Court reinstated Lawan as the APC senatorial candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial District. According to Justice Nweze, given the serious charges in Machina’s lawsuit against the defendants, he should issue a Writ of Summons and begin his case at the Federal High Court. Justice Nweze added that there were antagonistic difficulties in Machina’s case that

  Twitter is considering charging businesses on the platform $1,000 a month to retain their gold-verified checkmarks. According to a report from The Information, companies, and organizations that fail to pay the fee will lose their badges, although it's not clear when. Internal messages viewed by the outlet suggested that it will cost $1,000 a month to keep gold badges and another $50 a month for each 'affiliated account'. That claim corroborates a leaked email from a Twitter staff member to an unknown organization in which it was offered 'early access' to 'Verification for Organizations.' In the email, dated February 2 and shared by social media analyst Matt Navarra, the staff member, Evan Jones, quoted the same $1,000 cost of subscription and offered the organization a 'gold checkmark' in return. The change is the latest of many that Twitter's new owner and CEO Elon Musk has taken in an attempt to boost revenue and turn the company profitable.

  Kevin Mauss-Martins , son of former Super Eagles forward, Obafemi Martins has signed his first professional contract with Serie A club Monza. Mauss Martins, a striker, featured for both AC Milan and Inter Milan before switching to Monza. ?First professional contract for striker born in 2005 Kevin Maussi Martins, who made his debut with AC Monza in the #spring 2-0 victory over Padova!,? the club wrote on their official Twitter handle. Mauss-Martins is Obafemi Martin's first son.     He has represented Italy at the U-15 level but he is still eligible to play for Nigeria.