Headlines
Lawan, Gbajabiamila Win Senate President, House Speaker Seats
By Eric Elezuo
The duo of Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon Femi Gbajabiamila have emerged the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively for the ninth assembly after defeating their various opponents in a keenly contested election on Tuesday.
Ahmed Lawan, a former Majority Leader in the Senate, representing Yobe Central Senatorial zone defeated Senator Ali Ndume by 79 to 28 votes.
In the same vein, former Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, from Lagos, was declared the new speaker of the ninth House of Representatives having scored a total of 281 votes to beat his rival, Umar Bago, who scored 76 votes.
After a secret ballot voting which lasted for over 3 hours, the clerk to the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, announced Mr Gbajabiamila’s victory to the cheers of many of his supporters.
“Femi Gbajabiamila, having secured the majority of the votes counted is hereby returned elected and declared speaker of the house,” he said.
Mr Gbajabiamila and Ahmed Lawan, the new Senate president, were backed by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in their bid for the National Assembly’s highest positions.
The party’s candidate for the position of deputy senate president, Ovie Omo-Agege, also won, defeating the immediate past Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
Ahmed Wase was elected unopposed as the Deputy Speaker.
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.”
