• IReV now working, ready for gov polls – INEC
• God didn’t create Nigeria to be poor – Obasanjo
• Election results did not live up to Nigerian’s expectations – US Ambassador
• Nigerian Eagle shall fly high – Tinubu sends message to world leaders
• Resign rather than blame “negligent” staff – Atiku to INEC Chairman

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

IReV now working, ready for gov polls – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission has assured the public that the problems it had with its results viewing webpage during the presidential and National Assembly elections have been fixed.

They announced that the IReV platform would be used in this next Saturday’s gubernatorial and legislative elections.`

The failure of INEC to submit polling unit results to the portal before collation was met with criticism from political parties, observers, individuals, and other interest groups.

This error has been used by certain political groups and individuals to call for the results to be nullified.

Furthermore, it was revealed that eight days after the presidential election, INEC had posted 161,624 results from 176, 846 voting units.

This percentage is equivalent to 92% of all polling place results.

As of the time of filing this report, the electronic transmission of results was still ongoing.

Nigerians had expected that the election results would be uploaded on election day as promised by INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

However, INEC came under fire for its failure to upload results to its viewing portal, which led to the walkout of some parties agents on Monday at the National Collation Centre.

God didn’t create Nigeria to be poor – Obasanjo

On Sunday, former President Olusegun Obasanjo said the current state of Nigeria is the fault of its political leadership and not God’s will.

When asked about Nigeria’s lack of food security, he said it was unfortunate the country hadn’t made better use of available scientific and technological advances.

This was revealed during a lecture given in honor of the former president’s 86th birthday in Abeokuta, the state capital of Ogun.

On Sunday, former President Olusegun Obasanjo said the current state of Nigeria is the fault of its political leadership and not God’s will.

When asked about Nigeria’s lack of food security, he said it was unfortunate the country hadn’t made better use of available scientific and technological advances.

This was revealed during a lecture given in honor of the former president’s 86th birthday in Abeokuta, the state capital of Ogun.

On food security, the ex-president said, “Until Ukraine war, I really did not realise how much we in Africa, almost all of us in Africa depend on the Russians and the Ukrainians for wheat. Wheat, which is used to make bread, is only carbohydrate. Are there no carbohydrate foodstuffs that can be produced in Africa that we can be self-sufficient in? I know some of our countries cannot produce wheat and this is the sort of thing that IITA has been doing.

“Science and technology has given us all that we need for food and nutrition security in Africa what is left is political will and political action.”

Election results did not live up to Nigerian’s expectations – US Ambassador

The United States has said that the Nigerian presidential election fell short of what Nigerians had hoped for eight days after it was held.

In the end, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) received 8,794,726 votes, about two million more than his nearest challenger, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This result was certified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Abubakar, 76, who has now run for president six times, received 6,984,520 votes, while Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party (LP), who galvanized youthful voters in what has been termed as unprecedented fashion in less than a year, finished with 6,101,533.

Atiku and Obi have both expressed dissatisfaction with the presidential election and stated their intention to contest the outcome in court.

The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, released a statement on Sunday saying that although some Nigerians are celebrating wins they think were hard-fought and well-earned, many others are unhappy and dissatisfied by the results.

“It is clear that the electoral process as a whole on February 25 failed to meet Nigerians’ expectations,” the US Ambassador stated.

“As I said numerous times prior to the elections, Nigeria has accomplished much in just the two-plus decades since the return to democracy, and a gradual improvement in the quality of its elections in that time constitutes one of those accomplishments.

“The people of Nigeria demonstrated their dedication to democracy on February 25, but there are many angry and frustrated Nigerians as well as many who are celebrating victories they believe were hard-fought and well-earned.

“In the coming days, it will be important for the future of this country that Nigerians not let their differences divide them, and that the legally established process for resolving challenges to the election be allowed to take its course.”

Nigerian Eagle shall fly high – Tinubu sends message to world leaders

On Sunday, Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s incoming president, thanked foreign leaders who had congratulated him on his victory in the country’s presidential election on February 25.

Tinubu praised them for their friendly overtures and pledged to collaborate with them, declaring, “The Nigerian Eagle shall fly.”

Several heads of state, including those of the United States, United Kingdom, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of India, have sent Tinubu notes of congratulations.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that the former governor of Lagos State had won the presidential election held in February, after he had defeated both Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

However, In a tweet via his Twitter handle at the weekend, Tinubu said, “I deeply appreciate the congratulatory messages that have come in from friends and well-wishers from home and abroad. The messages of goodwill and solidarity have been so overwhelming for me to mention you all by name.

“I am particularly grateful to many world leaders from our African neighbours, our friends in The Commonwealth, and from the other parts of the world who welcomed my election with heartwarming messages.

“This a good time to believe in the Nigerian dream; a good time to believe in our renewed hope. The Nigerian eagle shall fly high.”

Resign rather than blame “negligent” staff – Atiku to INEC Chairman

PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has demanded that INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu step down from his position.

At a meeting with RECs on Saturday in Abuja, INEC’s chairman acknowledged that a variety of concerns, including technology, delay by election officials, and attitudes of political party agents, threatened to derail the results of the elections on February 25.

He further stated that the officials at fault will be removed from the gubernatorial election and subject to disciplinary measures.

On the other hand, in a statement released on Sunday, Atiku accused the INEC chairman of trying to shift blame rather than accepting responsibility for the irregularities that occurred during the presidential and national assembly elections through his special assistant on public communication Phrank Shaibu.

“The INEC chairman is nothing but a hypocrite,” Shaibu said.

“After promising to upload the results from polling units in real time, he allowed himself to be used, or he used himself in subverting the will of Nigerians.

“It will shock you to note that seven days since the election ended, the full results have still not been uploaded on INEC’s result viewing portal.

“The election was so bad that it failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians as restated by several foreign media outlets and observers as well as ambassador Mary Beth Leonard of the US. Rather than apologise, the INEC chairman is trying to shift the blame.

“After INEC’s abysmal performance at the scam election of February 25, he is now trying to save face, insisting that errant staff would be punished and would not be deployed in the March 11 governorship poll.

“This is arrant nonsense. Is INEC planning on training new staff within five days that will replace the so-called errant ones? Is he going to recruit new staff or deploy some from outer space?

“Prof. Yakubu should be man enough to own up to his failure. A fish rots from the head down, and that is what has happened at INEC.

“Rather than suspend any staff, the INEC chairman is the one that needs to step aside as his first act of contrition. Already, over 300,000 Nigerians have signed a petition on Change.Org to demand that the US, UK, and Europe place a visa ban on the INEC chairman. This shows you the general feeling of Nigerians. Prof Yakubu should hide his face in shame.”