Headlines
INEC Affirms Sowore as Authentic AAC Chairman
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has voided the suspension of Omoyele Sowore as the chairman of the African Action Congress (AAC).
The electoral umpire said in a May 14 letter that those who suspended Mr Sowore from office did so without regard to the party’s constitution or other governing documents. It, therefore, concluded that Mr Sowore will continue to be recognised as the AAC chairman.
Mr Sowore was announced suspended by some members of the party on May 14, barely three months after he stood as the party’s 2019 presidential candidate.
The move came amidst a raging controversy between the Sahara Reporters publisher and other party chieftains, with both sides accusing one another of dishonesty, insubordination and fraud.
Mr Sowore was specifically accused of “misappropriation of funds and failure to comply with the statutory requirements of the party to hold NEC meeting over a long period of time,” amongst other infractions.
The politicians subsequently announced Leonard Ezenwa as the new chairman of the party.
Mr Sowore dismissed his purported suspension in a press release shortly afterwards. He also responded by announcing the expulsion of Mr Ezenwa and others who took part in the meeting that removed him.
The publisher said Mr Ezenwa and his band had previously been suspended for “financial impropriety.”
Null and void
A day after the suspension, INEC took a position on the matter, retaining Mr Sowore as chairman after finding no grounds to uphold his removal.
The commission said Mr Ezenwa and others failed to show any “documentary evidence” that a meeting was called by the chairman as required by the party’s constitution.
It also found that the mandatory 21-day notice that should be circulated to members ahead of such critical meeting was not issued.
The commission also said records of the purported meeting, including minutes, where Mr Sowore was removed, were unavailable.
“The commission shall continue to recognise Sowore as national chairman,” the electoral body concluded.
Mr Sowore emerged the presidential candidate of the AAC in October, 2018. He has also been the party’s chairman ever since.
Premium Times
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.”
