• PEPC upholds President Bola Tinubu’s election victory
• Presidential candidates Atiku and Obi announce plans to appeal following the Tribunal’s ruling
• Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission increases metre price
• Murtala Muhammed International Airport fire outbreak, Air Controllers forced to move
• Ex-president Buhari congratulates President Tinubu on his election victory

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

PEPC upholds President Bola Tinubu’s election victory

The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) has, in its final verdict, approved and legitimised President Tinubu’s election victory, throwing out the petitions brought against the president and nullifying their witnesses and evidence.

The petitioners, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) had both felt wronged by the February 25 elections as witnesses were made on social media and in some polling units that electoral malpractices were conducted. The presidential candidates further took their cases to the court, which, however, has proven that President Tinubu’s win was flawless.

Tinubu had allegedly scored the highest number of votes from Nigerians, with a total of 8,794,726. At the same time, Atiku came second with 6,984,520, and Peter Obi scored 6,101,533 votes from his supporters.

While cross-examining the petitions, the Tribunal stated that it did not matter whether or not Tinubu could secure 25% votes in Abuja as Justice Haruna Tsammani spoke up, addressing the entirety of the petition after the panel had completed its assessment.

“This petition accordingly lacks merit; I affirm the return of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The parties are to bear their cost,” he said.

The Tribunal further addressed the issue by asking the petitioners why they could not present coded and credible evidence to uphold their petition.

“Were they expecting the court to go and gather evidence from the street or the market or to be persuaded or intimidated by threats on social media?” the Tribunal asked.

Led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, the remaining members of the five-justice panel of the Tribunal were Justice Abba Mohammed, Justice Boloukuoromo Ugo, Justice Mistura Bolaji-Yusuf, and Stephen Adah.

Presidential candidates Atiku and Obi announce plans to appeal following the Tribunal’s ruling

At the unfavourable announcement of the alleged victory of the current Nigerian President, the presidential candidates and petitioners, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, rejected the result presented in the PEPC and have decided to appeal.

Nigerians have viewed the Tribunal’s report on the petition on social media as rigged from scratch; however, Atiku and Obi have chosen not to let the legal war end without fighting to the finish.

The Legal Adviser to the Labour Party, Kehinde Edun, promised to raise the unfairness of the PEPC’s ruling at the Supreme Court.

While Chris Uche, SAN,  the Lead Counsel to Atiku, stated that he received a request from his client, Atiku, to file an appeal at the Supreme Court.

It would seem that the presidential candidates are not going down without fighting for what they believe is the truth behind the presidential election.

“The judgement has been delivered, but we have not received justice. Fortunately, the law has given us leverage to go on appeal to the Supreme Court, and we have instructions from our clients to go to the Supreme Court. The struggle continues.” the Lead Counsel said.

Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission increases metre price

The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has increased its prepaid metre price by 40% under the Meter Asset Providers (MAP) scheme in Nigeria.

In a signed statement dated September 5 by NERC’s chairman, Sanusi Garba, and Commissioner for Legal, Licencing, and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, it declared that a single-phase prepaid metre would be sold for ₦81,975 from the ₦58,661 that it once was priced at while a three-phase prepaid metre would be priced at ₦143,836 from ₦109,684.

The effect of this on Nigerian electricity consumers is that they would be required to pay an extra ₦23,313 for a single-phase, which is approximately a 40% increase and ₦34,151 for a three-phase metre, a 31% increase.

“All MAPs shall supply metres previously paid for by end-users before the commencement of this order at the prevailing rate when customers made payment without a boost in cost,” the signed statement reads.

However, experts, including the CEO at Sage Consulting & Communications, Bode Fadipe, have ruled this decision unwise as consumers might be unable to partake in metering because the cost of a single-phase metre is higher than the country’s minimum wage of ₦30,000.

“Ordinarily, the provision of the metre is not the tenant’s business but one of the many things to be provided by the property owners. But whether the tenant or the property owner, someone has to pay for it,”

This information came in shortly after the NLC directed its union members to end their two-day warning strike, with its reason for protesting against the federal government was due to hardship in Nigeria and inability to live comfortably due to the increased inflation in the country.

Murtala Muhammed International Airport fire outbreak, Air Controllers forced to move

A fire outbreak at the baggage hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, forced the Air Controllers to move from the tower at the airport’s terminal building to a mobile tower.

On Wednesday 6, the fire broke out around 8 a.m. and saw the evacuation of airport staff and passengers from the MMIA.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) released a report on the incident, alerting the public of what happened after a thorough investigation had been carried out.

“At approximately 0723 hours this morning, a suspected electrical spark in the baggage hall ceiling caused the smoke reported at Terminal 1 of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos. The source of the smoke was identified as a burning lithium inverter battery installation in the basement,” the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, FAAN, Abdullahi Yakubu Funtua, said in a statement released.

According to some officials, the fire outbreak affected a few cables, which caused the blackout in the control tower.

The Air Controllers were moved to the mobile tower at Caverton Helicopters after the fire outbreak, but there was no record of casualty caught in the fire.

Khalid Emene, the Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, ascertained that the Air Controllers were safe and relocated as FAAN had quickly attended to the issue before it became worse.

“Our flight services have not been affected; aeroplanes have been landing and taking off without any accident; the reason for having a mobile tower is an emergency,” he said.

Ex-president Buhari congratulates President Tinubu on his election victory

The ex-president, Muhammadu Buhari, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his election victory presided by the PEPC ruling on Wednesday 6.

The former president could not hide his joy as a message published by his media aide, Malam Garba Shehu, read that PEPC had “written history” by refuting all the illegible evidence and refusing the threats and prejudice to deliver a result free of manipulation.

“If anybody has won today, it is democracy and the people; with the verdict of the Supreme Court, the election period is over, and it is time to put the heat and don’t behind us. Henceforth, the new APC government led by Bola Tinubu should receive the support of everyone to deliver the promises it made to the people,”

The ex-president expressed his gratitude to all calm Nigerians who kept the peace during the Tribunal as he prayed for constant progress and growth under the new government.