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Criminal Forfeiture: We’re Not Investigating Tinubu, INEC Denies Trending Letter
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday distanced itself from a purported investigation of criminal forfeiture against the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu.
The statement which was allegedly signed by INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, had said the electoral body was liaising with the Northern Illinois District Court in the United States of America to establish more facts about the case before taking a decision.
The alleged statement titled, ‘Certified True Copy of Order of Criminal Forfeiture against APC Presidential Candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the United States’ claimed that the commission was liaising with the Northern Illinois District Court to establish more facts about the case before taking a decision.
But in his reaction on Saturday, Okoye explained that the press release did not emanate from INEC, noting that it was the handiwork of mischief makers. He, therefore, advised the public to ignore it.
His statement read in part, “A press release purported to have been issued by the commission has been trending online since Friday, November 11, 2022. It claims that the commission has commenced an investigation into a case of criminal forfeiture against one of the presidential candidates in the forthcoming general election and is liaising with a court in the United States of America in pursuit of the same to determine a possible violation of our guidelines or the Electoral Act 2022.
“We wish to state categorically that the said press release did not emanate from the commission nor is it pursuing the purported course of action. It is the handiwork of mischief makers and utterly fake.
“Press releases from the commission are uploaded to the INEC press corps platform and simultaneously disseminated through our website and official social media handles.”
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
