Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose has said Nigeria hasn’t changed since 1979. He made the statement on Thursday following the outcome of the 2023 presidential election. Fayose spoke while fielding questions from journalists on Arise Television’s Morning Show. According to him, there is a lot wrong with Nigeria, adding that he blamed the majority of the problem the country is facing on stakeholders and politicians. Recall that the All Progressives Congress, APC’s Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently won the 2023 presidential election, beating close rivals Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s Peter Obi. Atiku and Obi have since headed to the courts to challenge the victory of Tinubu. Fayose said, “There is a lot wrong with Nigeria. Since 1979 nothing has changed. I blamed the majority of the problem on stakeholders and politicians. “When you asked Buhari in 2015 if you lose the election, would you concede defeat, he said I would win. He never conceived he would lose. “I told you the senators, House of Rep members are returning to the House of Assembly. The system is sick. Nobody is protecting it. “Rather than blaming INEC, we need to draw a red line like the army. Nothing was wrong in the election.”

The Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Kalu has sent a congratulatory message to Abia Governor-elect, Alex Otti. He said the people of Abia State have spoken with their votes by choosing the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in the March 18 elections. He urged all Abians to close ranks and support the governor-elect “in rebuilding the state for the betterment of the people”. Sen. Kalu said this in a congratulatory message he sent to Otti on Thursday in Abuja. The senator applauded the political maturity demonstrated by candidates of all political parties during the election. According to him, the collective interests of the Abia people should be placed above personal ambitions. “I congratulate Chief Alex Otti of the Labour Party (LP) who emerged victorious in the last Saturday’s governorship election in Abia state.“The people of Abia State have spoken with their votes and as such Abians regardless of party affiliation must rally support for the governor-elect.“Judging from his antecedents in the private sector, I am optimistic that Otti will bring to bear his administrative acumen in piloting the affairs of Abia State.“I urge Abia people to be steadfast, positive minded and peaceful during this period,” Senator Kalu said. The former governor of Abia wished Otti a successful tenure in office. Otti had won the governorship election in the state by a landslide. He polled a total of 172,386 votes to defeat his closest rival and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Okey Ahiwe, who garnered 88,174 votes. 

A former federal lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani has raised an alarm saying some persons arrested for different offences during the just concluded elections in Kaduna State have been released without being charged to court. Sani made the revelation in a tweet on Thursday morning. Shehu Sani said a woman arrested with multiple Permanent Voters Cards and other men arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have all been released. He wrote, “The woman who was arrested with multiple PVCs and paraded by the EFCC during the presidential election.“And the men who were arrested for vote buying and paraded by the EFCC during the governorship election in Kaduna have all been released without charges and now at home”. Recall that the operatives of the EFCC had, on February 25, during the presidential and National Assembly elections, intercepted a woman with no fewer than 18 voter cards in a sting operation at the Badarwa area of Kaduna, Kaduna State. The woman, identified as Maryam Mamman Alhaji, who is a member of the support group of one of the leading political parties, also had in her possession a 17-page list containing names of eligible voters, their bank details, and phone numbers as accredited under Badarwa/Malali Ward 01 and 08, Kaduna North Local Government Area of the State.