• INEC uploads 170K results on IReV, BVAS reconfiguration on Tuesday
• Gunmen kill 17 in latest Kaduna village attack
• Tinubu & APC leaders to meet Lawmakers-Elect at Aso Rock Monday
• Soludo deems Obi’s LP Lawmaker voting call “Deceitful”
• Obi urges Nigerians to reconfigure their basic values for an acceptable society

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn’t miss:

INEC Uploads 170K Results on IReV, BVAS Reconfiguration on Tuesday

On Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said that over 170,000 polling unit results for the presidential and National Assembly elections held on February 25 have been uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

The Commission also stated that the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Registration Systems (BVAS) would be finished by Tuesday in readiness for the March 18 elections for governor and the state legislature.

“As of the last time, over 170,000 of those results have been uploaded,” INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, stated on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

“As you are aware, we are reconfiguring the BVAS for purposes of the governorship and state assembly elections, and any BVAS that was used for the presidential and National Assembly elections that do not push to the accreditation backend, the data relating to the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections will not be reconfigured.

“In fact, the BVAS will not allow itself to be reconfigured or reset if the entire data is not pushed to the accreditation backend.

“I’m sure that by Tuesday when we hope to complete the resettling of the BVAS for the purposes of the governorship and state assembly elections, the results in all the places where elections were conducted would have been pushed to the accreditation backend.”

Gunmen Kill 17 in Latest Kaduna Village Attack

Gunmen attacked Ungwar Wakili village in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State, resulting in the deaths of at least 17 people. Reports suggest that the majority of the casualties were women and children, including a woman and her newborn baby.

Initially, 15 fatalities were reported, but later it was confirmed that two of the three people who sustained injuries also died.

The police authorities have yet to comment on the incident, but the Executive Chairman of Zango Kataf Local Government Area, Francis Sani, reported that the attackers, suspected to be militia herders, invaded the community around 9 pm on Saturday, shooting sporadically at people’s houses.

He stated that the gunmen, who were located near a mobile police checkpoint, operated for hours without any resistance from security operatives.

The Chairman explained that fifteen locals, mostly women and children, were killed in the process, either from gunshots or machete cuts.

The injured have been taken to the hospital for treatment, while the bodies of the victims will be given a mass burial after normalcy is restored.

A 24-hour curfew has been imposed on Ungwan Juju, Mabuhu, Ungwan Wakili, and Zangon Urban, with the Nigerian Army deployed to restore peace in the area.

Tinubu & APC Leaders to Meet Lawmakers-Elect at Aso Rock Monday

The leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress is expected to meet with President-elect Bola Tinubu, his running mate Senator Kashim Shettima, and other members of the party who were elected as senators and representatives. The meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday, March 13, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

Senator Iyiola Omisore, the National Secretary of the APC, extended the invitation to Tinubu, Shettima, and the elected lawmakers. Although the meeting is set to begin at 2 pm, guests were instructed to arrive by noon, two hours ahead of the scheduled start time.

The invitation also called for guests to bring their Certificates of Return, which were issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission after their electoral victories were confirmed.

“This is to inform all Senators-elect and members of the House of Representatives-elect of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that they are invited to a parley with the party’s national leadership,” the invitation read.

“The meeting, which will be attended by the President-elect and Vice President-elect, will be held at the State House Banquet Hall, Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. Senators/House of Representatives-elect must come to the meeting with their Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Certificates of Return and must come alone.

“The meeting is strictly on invitation. Date: Monday, 13th of March 2023. Time: 2 pm prompt. Venue: State House Banquet Hall, Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. All invited guests are expected to arrive early to allow for screening and be seated before 12 noon.”

Soludo Deems Obi’s LP Lawmaker Voting Call “Deceitful”

Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo has reacted to calls by the presidential candidate of Labour Party, LP, Mr. Peter Obi for people of the state to vote massively for his party’s House of Assembly candidates.

Obi had on Friday night met with National and state Assembly candidates of Labour Party in Anambra, while urging the assembly candidates to work with Soludo upon election.

Obi said Soludo remained his brother, and that he should not fear being impeached by Labour Party-dominated assembly, as all that was paramount was to bring development to the state.

But Soludo reacting to the call, through his Press secretary, Mr. Chris Aburime said the call was rather deceptive and was meant to lay landmines for Soludo.

He said, “That call was meant to deceive Anambra people. Obi can not be talking about development in Anambra and also be talking about asking Anambra people to elect lawmakers from the opposition party to work with Soludo.

“He worked with a legislature that was dominated by lawmakers from the PDP, when he first came in as governor, and he knows that it was not easy for him.

“He even suffered impeachment because of that, and we hope it is not the same thing he wants to set Soludo up for.

“Anambra people should go all out next Saturday and vote for APGA, if they want the developmental strides of Mr Governor to continue.

“You can not be talking of development and at the same time talking of electing opposition politicians into the House of Assembly, it is not done. It is deceit.

“Anambra people supported Obi during the presidential election, and besides, Soludo refused to interfere as the people trooped out to vote for Labour Party, and that was even before Soludo made the environment conducive for people to come out and vote.

“We have voted Labour Party in the presidential election, but for the House of Assembly election, we are voting for APGA, and we want Anambra people to know so.”

Soludo and Obi have had a running battle on the choice of lawmakers in the next session of the Anambra House of Assembly.

Though they will be no governorship election in the state, Soludo is fighting to have majority, if not all members of the 30-man assembly, while Obi who is the leader of an emerging political force in the country, wants to assert himself by using his influence to cause a higher number of lawmakers in the assembly.

Obi had in the presidential election held two weeks ago, won about 92 percent of the total votes cast in the Anambra State, a feat that has shown his dominance in the state.

Obi Urges Nigerians to Reconfigure Basic Values for Acceptable Society

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has sent a message to Nigerians on the state of the country.

The former governor of Anambra State polled 6,101,533 votes to take third place in the 25 February presidential election, and has appealed to Nigerians on the need to recalibrate their “Basic Values of Acceptable to Society,” dubbed ‘BVAS.’

“As the reconfiguration of BVAS has become our watchword today, I humbly appeal to Nigerians that it’s time to Reconfigure our own BVAS – “BASIC VALUES ACCEPTABLE TO SOCIETY. ” Have a nice Sunday and may God Almighty bless Nigeria,” he posted on his Twitter handle.

Peter Obi rejected the presidential election’s outcome, which saw Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerging as the winner.

Dissatisfied with the results, Peter Obi is trying to reclaim his victory through the judiciary. To this end, he hired 15 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) to pursue his case at the Presidential Election Court of Appeal Tribunal.

Earlier, the court granted the request of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to reconfigure its Bimodal Voters Accreditation System, BVAS, ahead of the 18 March governorship and state House of Assembly elections, a situation which did not go down well with Peter Obi.