These are the stories you should be monitoring today:
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, a governorship aspirant for the primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, has reacted to the allegations levelled against him by his challenger and Governor of Lagos, Akinwunmi Ambode in a press conference on Sunday, describing it as shameless and untrue.
Sanwo-Olu in a statement he titled: ‘Time to respect the people of Lagos State and the office of governor” said Ambode’s allegation that he was arrested for spending fake dollars at a night club in the United States was untrue, adding that he never received any treatment whatsoever at the Gbagada General Hospital.
He further said: “Perhaps the tension and anxiety of the moment got the better of him. If given a chance at cooler reflection of what he said, I am sure he would regret his descent into such low conduct. In this vein, I forgive him and hope he regains his balance and proper comportment no matter the outcome of tomorrow’s contest.”
Lagos-based billionaire, Tonye Cole has emerged as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers after the party’s primary election conducted in Port Harcourt on Saturday.
According to the result announced by Col. Lawal Isa (Rtd.), Chairman, APC Governorship Primary Election Committee for Rivers, the oil mogul secured 3,329 votes to defeat other aspirants; Dr. Dawari George who secured 491 votes, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs secured 38 votes, Sen. Magnus Abe one vote, while a total of 18 votes were declared invalid.
A faction of the party however organised a parallel primary, where the Senator representing Rivers South=East, Magnus Abe emerged as winner with 144,929 votes, to defeat Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, who polled 3,444 votes; Dr. Dawari George scored 1606 while Dr Tonye Cole got 882 votes in the results announced by Dr Sam Eligwe, the Returning Officer for the faction.
Governors Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom, Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, all won the respective primaries in their respective states on Sunday, to emerge as the flagbearers of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2019 governorship elections.
The party in Ogun however produced two candidates as two factions conducted parallel primaries; While the Bayo Dayo led faction announced Prince Adeleke Shittu as its governorship candidate following the withdrawal of his only challenger Alhaji Adewole Adeyanju from the race.
The other faction of the PDP under the leadership of Sikirulahi Ogundele in its parallel primary, had Oladipupo Adebutu, the sole aspirant emerge as winner after polling 2,369 votes out of 2,634 cast.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has faulted the results of the presidential primary conducted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) across the country as it accused President Muhammadu Buhari and his party of posting what it called fictitious figures as votes secured by the President at the primary.
Spokesperson of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement he issued on Sunday, said the Presidency forced the direct primary on the APC because of its determination to conjure figures ahead of the general elections, a plan he said was to hoodwink Nigerians and create an impression of massive support for President Buhari ahead of the 2019 presidential election.
“Nigerians were thoroughly amused as they see through the lies in APC’s allocation of fictitious 2.9 million votes in Kano, 1.9 million in Lagos, 802,819 in Katsina, in addition to other conjured figures in other states,” the statement read.
The governorship primary of the People’s Democratic Party in Kwara State was on Sunday disrupted and cancelled following a confrontation between supporters of two leading aspirants, Bolaji Abdullahi and Razak Atunwa,
The exercise which was conducted at the Banquet Hall, opposite government house, Ilorin,was peaceful until some loyalists of two top aspirants, clashed over alleged attempt to manipulate the primary, leading to the smashing of ballot boxes and destruction of other materials used for the election.
While some supporters of former Sports Minister, Abdullahi alleged that most of the ballot papers had the name of Atuwa, reported to have the backing of Abdulafatah Ahmed, written on them, other reports suggested that the delay in sharing food to the delegates led to the commotion.
And stories from around the world:
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Monday they launched a missile strike against a “terrorist” headquarters in Syria in retaliation for an attack that killed 24 people in the Iranian city of Ahvaz. (AFP)
Leader of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir region has accused Indian troops of shooting at his helicopter while it was flying close to the highly militarised Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border dividing the region. (Al Jazeera)
Troops from North and South Korea began removing some landmines along their heavily fortified border on Monday, the South’s defense ministry said, as part of a pact to reduce tension and build trust on the divided peninsula. (Reuters)
The US and Canada have reached a new trade deal, along with Mexico, to replace the current North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (BBC)
The son of a U.S. Marine and Japanese mother won an election for governor of Japan’s Okinawa island on Sunday on an anti-U.S military presence platform, defeating a candidate backed by the ruling bloc in a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Reuters)
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