Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:
1. Nigerians will today storm polling units across the 36 states of the federation, including the FCT to decide on the next President of the country and national assembly members. President Buhari had during a nationwide broadcast described the elections as ‘a date with history.’
2. The Nigerian Army released hotlines ahead of today’s polls. The army said the reason was to create enabling environment during the conduct of the 2019 elections. The numbers are: 07017222225, 09060005290, 08099900131.
3. There was pandemonium at the early hours of Saturday as series of explosions rocked Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Residents of Maiduguri were seen scampering for dear lives and the explosions were heard at several locations in the state.
4. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said its presidential campaign spokesperson in Kogi State, Mr. Austin Okai, has been abducted. It said Okai was whisked away Friday night by armed thugs allegedly unleashed by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
5. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday said candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will participate in the National Assembly, governorship and state House of Assembly elections in Zamfara state. A statement signed by Festus Okoye, Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC, on Friday, said the decision was reached after a judgment by the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday.
6. Pandemonium ensued at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) in Calabar, the Cross River State capital as thousands of serving and ex-National Youths Service Corps members and students who were shortlisted as ad-hoc for the postponed Presidential and National Assembly elections protested the removal of their names. Thousands of people who were initially shortlisted as INEC ad-hoc staff have been told to go home as their services were no longer required for the rescheduled elections without any reason.
7. The American Bar Association (ABA) has expressed its hope that Nigeria’s 2019 elections on Saturday will be credible, fair, free and transparent. In a statement on its website on Friday, the ABA condemned recent events that could undermine the country’s rule of law and called for calm as Nigerians prepare to go to the polls.
8. The Federal Government has condemned the deportation of 723 Nigerians from Ghana on allegations of cybercrime, prostitution and illegal stay. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement by its Spokesperson, Mr George Edokpa on Friday in Abuja, frowned at the reports, which included the maltreatment and inhuman conditions entailed in the processes by the Ghanaian authorities.
9. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured Nigerians and the international community that it has concluded arrangements to commence elections by 8. a.m. on Saturday. INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, while addressing a press conference on the commission’s preparations for the presidential and National Assembly elections, on Friday, said that the commission has concluded the deployment of sensitive and non-sensitive materials to the 774 local government areas across the country.
10. The Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC) on Friday said underage voters caught during the general elections would be arrested and prosecuted. Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, urged that underage voters spotted anywhere across the country should be reported immediately, adding that INEC was working with the Police to apprehend underage voters and their sponsors.
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