Headlines
15 More COVID-19 Deaths, 1,301 New Infections Recorded in Nigeria
Nigeria on Tuesday logged another relatively high daily death tally from COVID-19 with 15 people dying from the disease. This took the death toll in the last three days to 44.
A total of 113,305 infections have now been reported across the nation after 1,301 new cases were found in 22 states on Tuesday.
This is coming barely hours after the country’s National Strategic Cold Stores announced that it has secured ultra-cold freezers for storing some COVID-19 vaccines Nigeria is expecting to receive later this month.
As Nigerians expect the vaccines and the country continues to record more coronavirus cases, the direct adverse impact has been more fatalities, data from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) shows.
On Sunday Nigeria recorded 15 deaths before reporting 14 fatalities on Monday.
Last Friday, Nigeria announced its deadliest day of the pandemic with 23 lives lost.
Last week, which is the third week of the new year, the country recorded 70 deaths, the weekly highest in the new year. The country also recorded 50 and 48 deaths in the first and second week of 2021 respectively.
In the past four weeks, there have been over 200 deaths as a result of COVID-19 complications in Nigeria.
The rise in mortally shows that the second wave of the pandemic is deadlier than the first as more patients require breathing support not just in Nigeria but globally.
On Saturday, the global coronavirus death toll surpassed 2 million. About 400 thousand of those deaths were reported in the U.S.
Meanwhile, active cases in Nigeria rose sharply from about 3,000 about two months ago to over 20, 000 due to a rise in new infections.
Of the over 113,000 cases so far, 91,200 patients have been discharged from hospitals after treatment.
Specifics
The 1,301 new cases were reported from 22 states – Lagos (551), FCT (209), Oyo (83), Plateau (65), Kaduna (64), Enugu (61), Rivers (44), Ondo (39), Benue (37), Akwa Ibom (31), Kano (19), Delta (18), Gombe (18), Ogun (16), Edo (15), Kebbi (10), Ebonyi (9), Jigawa (4), Osun (3), Zamfara (3), Borno (1) and Nasarawa (1).
Lagos, again, led with 551 new cases on Tuesday. The commercial city is Nigeria’s coronavirus epicentre with a total of over 40,000 confirmed cases and over 270 deaths.
The Minister of State for Health, Mr Mamora, warned Nigerians against complacency in containing the COVID-19 pandemic as the much-awaited vaccines may not arrive the country as soon as expected.
So far, Nigeria has conducted over 1.2 million COVID-19 tests.
Premium Times
British Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on Monday announced his resignation, bringing an abrupt end to a premiership that began with Labour’s landslide general election victory in July 2024.
Starmer made the announcement in a statement outside 10 Downing Street, where he reflected on his time in office and defended his record in government.
“Every decision I have made has been about putting the country I love first,” Starmer said as he confirmed he would step down as both prime minister and leader of the governing Labour Party.
The resignation marks a dramatic political development in the United Kingdom, coming barely two years after Starmer led Labour back to power following more than a decade in opposition.
His departure is expected to trigger a swift leadership transition within the party at a time of heightened political uncertainty.
Addressing supporters gathered outside Downing Street, Starmer described entering No. 10 in 2024 as “the proudest moment” of his life, saying he entered politics with the goal of improving the lives of millions of people.
The outgoing prime minister also highlighted what he considered some of his key achievements, including rebuilding the Labour Party after years of internal divisions and restoring public confidence in the party’s economic and national security credentials.
Starmer said he inherited a Labour Party that was “politically, financially and morally bankrupt” and faced repeated predictions that it was finished as a political force.
He argued that his leadership helped transform the party, including efforts to tackle anti-Semitism and reposition Labour as a credible alternative government.
His resignation has immediately intensified speculation over his successor. Attention has turned to Andy Burnham, who recently won the Makerfield by-election and is due to be sworn in as a Member of Parliament.
Political observers and Labour insiders believe Burnham could emerge as the overwhelming favourite to take over the party leadership. Some party members are already discussing the possibility of a “coronation” process in which Burnham becomes the sole candidate, avoiding a prolonged leadership contest.
If that scenario unfolds, Labour could have a new leader and prime minister in place by September, around the time of the party’s annual conference.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Biodun Oyebanji, winner of the 2026 Ekiti State governorship election.
Oyebanji secured a landslide victory, polling 319,224 votes to defeat his closest challenger, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Dr. Wole Oluyede, who garnered 40,543 votes. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Dare Bejide, came a distant third with 12,872 votes.
The election, held across all 16 local government areas of the state, was overshadowed by reports of irregularities and widespread allegations of vote buying, drawing strong condemnation from observers.
The official results were announced on Sunday morning by the Chief Returning Officer, Professor Adenike Oladiji, who declared Oyebanji duly elected after meeting the constitutional requirements.
In her declaration, Professor Oladiji stated: “I, Professor Adenike Oladiji, hereby certify that I am the Returning Officer for the Ekiti State Governorship Election held on June 20, 2026, and that the election was conducted in compliance with the provisions of the law. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress, having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of valid votes cast, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected.”
Source: Reuters
