Headlines
Nigeria’s COVID-19 Infections Rise with 1,024 New Cases
Nigeria, on Monday, reached another devastating milestone as 1,024 people tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as of Sunday night.
The new figure catapulted the country’s total cases to more than 100,000.
This is coming about 11 months after the country recorded its first infection in an Italian traveller on February 27, 2020.
Some experts had hoped that Nigeria and much of the African continent would be spared by the pandemic in its early stages but since the second wave began in early December, the disease has been spreading ruthlessly, setting new records after months of low numbers that led to a lax on guard to safety and weak enforcement of health protocols.
On Sunday, Nigeria reported from 16 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) 1, 024 new cases pushing the total number of infections in the country to 100, 087.
One in every six persons (16 per cent) tested for COVID-19 in Nigeria in the past two weeks tested positive for the virus, indicating how far the virus has spread.
PREMIUM TIMES’ review of official data showed that Nigeria set a weekly record of reporting about 10, 000 cases in the past one week.
Deaths
The spike in infections is also leading to fatalities.
Eight people died from the disease on Sunday, taken the death toll to 1,358 in total. Eight people also died on Saturday.
In the past 23 days, there have been 146 fatalities as a result of COVID-19 complications in Nigeria.
The government has blamed the increasing deaths on later referrals of COVID-19 patients to treatment centres.
The Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, speaking at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday said caregivers are holding on to suspected cases for too long before presenting them for treatment.
But health experts believe the lowering of guard on safety and the weak enforcement of protocols especially in the country’s major airports in Abuja and Lagos could be responsible for the recent surge, warning that the situation could get worse if citizens keep violating safety protocols.
The federal government recently warned that a significant increase in COVID-19 infections in Nigeria appears imminent this January due to continued violation of safety protocols during the Christmas period.
Active cases in the country rose sharply from about 3,000 about a month ago to over 17,000 due to a rise in new infections.
Of the over 100,000 cases so far, 80,030 patients have been discharged from hospitals after treatment.
Specifics
The 1,024 new cases were reported from 17 states: Lagos – 653, Plateau – 63, Benue – 48, Zamfara – 45, FCT – 42, Rivers – 27, Ondo – 26, Adamawa – 26, Kaduna – 22, Edo -18, Ogun – 16, Imo – 12, Kano – 9, Yobe – 6, Ekiti – 5, Jigawa – 4, Osun – 2.
Lagos led with 653 new cases on Sunday, more than half of the daily total. The commercial city is Nigeria’s coronavirus epicentre with a total of over 35,000 confirmed cases and about 252 deaths.
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 a million COVID-19 tests.
Globally
The number of COVID-19 infections worldwide surpassed 90 million on Sunday morning, about a year since the highly infectious disease began spreading around the globe.
The grim milestone was reached as many countries commence coronavirus vaccination to get as much of its people vaccinated in record time.
COVID-19, the potentially dangerous pneumonia-like disease caused by the coronavirus and said to have emanated from a local Wuhan market to spread to over 200 countries, has claimed more than 1.9 million lives, according to data from worldometer.info.
Africa also on Sunday passed the milestone of three million confirmed cases of COVID-19, including more than 72,000 deaths, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
South Africa, with more than 1.2 million reported cases, including 32,824 deaths, accounts for more than 30 per cent of the total for the continent of 54 countries and 1.3 billion people.
The high proportion of COVID-19 cases in South Africa could be because the country carries out more tests than many other African countries.
Nigeria is the ninth most affected African country after South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Libya, Kenya and Algeria.
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
