The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has warned serving corps members against partaking in any form of electoral malpractices in the forthcoming general elections. The Acting Director-General of the NYSC, Mrs Christy Uba, who gave the warning during working visit to the temporary Orientation Camp in Amada, Akko Local Government Area, said any corps member found wanting shall be prosecuted according to law. She said that the NYSC scheme had played a critical role in conducting elections in the country over the years in collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Uba added that any corps member that involved in any form of electoral offence would face the wrath of the law as stipulated in the 2022 Electoral Act. While enjoining the corps members to be apolitical during the election, the acting director general emphasised that it is not compulsory to participate in the elections. She said, “If you must participate in the electoral process, you are encouraged to remain neutral and apolitical. Do not involve yourself in politics; you are corps members and you have a duty to your country; you have to be careful. “If you fall foul of the law, you will be treated as any other Nigerian. There is no cover for corps members; when you carry a ballot box for anybody; you will go straight to prison.” Uba further stated that all corps members who indicated interest in participating in elections would be given the required training by the NYSC and INEC officials. She, therefore, advised all those participating in the 2023 elections to go through the training to get the required knowledge to conduct the exercise successfully. The acting director general also debunked allegations that clinics in some camps in the country lacked medical supplies, stating that “the welfare of all corps members across the country is always given high priority.” “Their feeding, health, and wellbeing is not negotiable; we collaborate with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and I can tell you drugs are always made available,” she added.

  Twitter Inc.’s live audio service, Twitter Spaces, is down after a number of journalists that had just been suspended from the social network found they could still participate in it. Twitter owner Elon Musk said late Thursday night that the company was fixing an old bug and the audio service “should be working tomorrow.” Earlier in the evening, Musk’s network threw reporters from CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times, among others, into a seven-day suspension for allegedly disclosing the location of his private jet. BuzzFeed News reporter Katie Notopoulos went live on Twitter Spaces to discuss the abrupt spate of bans — which came without communication to either the journalists or their publications — and was joined by Drew Harwell of the Washington Post and Matt Binder of Mashable, two of the suspended reporters. Their tweets were no longer visible and they could not post new ones, however, they were still allowed to speak on the Spaces service. Musk dropped in on the session as well, after it accumulated thousands of listeners, to say tersely that anyone who doxxes — gives personal location information about another person — will be suspended. The journalists countered that they had not posted any real-time flight data, as he alleged, but by then the billionaire had quit the call. The dialogue drew more than 40,000 listeners at its peak. Twitter Spaces went down while Notopoulos’ session was still ongoing, disconnecting everyone, she said in a later tweet. No recording or information about that session is available on Twitter now.

  The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the conduct of the 2023 elections may be affected if the attacks on its offices continue. Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, spoke on Friday when he appeared before the house of representatives ad hoc committee investigating attacks on the facilities of the commission. The INEC chairman said the commission has made efforts to replace election materials destroyed in its offices, but said if such attacks continue, it may affect the elections. “The attacks have far-reaching implications on preparation for the general election. Firstly, the facilities that are destroyed, especially offices, would take time to rebuild,” he said. “They are not like items of procurement that you can procure off the shelf. So, an alternative arrangement has to be made. So, in some of the states, in addition to these malicious attacks and other matters that have arisen as a result of fire and flooding, we would have to make alternative arrangements by renting. “In some places, we can find facilities to rent. In some of the remote areas, we may not find facilities to rent. So, we have to look for alternatives for the damaged facilities. “Secondly, several materials lost would have to be replaced. In the recent attacks, some of the PVCs, for instance, were lost. But for the PVCs, we have instructed our state offices to send the voter identification numbers of the PVCs lost so we can reprint them. We can, from our database, quickly regenerate and reprint the cards so that citizens are not disenfranchised. “The commission and security agencies must also continue to provide safety around the facilities, and as I said earlier, it may be very challenging, because the security agencies are also protecting all of us and other national assets. “Now, we have to rebuild the facilities and our funds are overstretched by a number of factors. We cannot continue to replace and rebuild. And what is even more worrisome for us is the attack in Izzi LGA of Ebonyi state. “The building was first attacked on 18th May, 2021. We included the resources in our election project plan budget to rebuild the office, and we did so. We rebuilt the office and our staff moved in on Friday. That weekend, on Sunday, the office was burnt down again and there are five such offices nationwide where, in spite of our best efforts, the facility was attacked not only once, but twice. We have five offices and even after rebuilding or trying to rebuild, the offices were attacked again. “We are determined that we would continue with our preparations for the 2023 general election. So, all the facilities would be rebuilt or alternatives found and materials would be replaced. “However, should such attacks continue at the pace at which they are happening at the moment, the commission may find it increasingly difficult to recover in good time for the election. “If it is about stopping the attacks, yes, we can recover. But if the attacks continue, it would be very difficult for the commission to recover.” The INEC boss added that “concerted efforts” must be made to stop the attacks on INEC offices, adding that he hopes that the committee’s hearing will also provide a solution.

  At least three Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, the capital, have reported explosions from yet another Russian missile attack. As many as 60 Russian missiles were seen heading for different targets, Sky News quoted an Ukrainian official as saying. Air raid sirens sounded all across Ukraine on Friday morning with civilians directed to head to shelters as “the attack on the capital continues”. Southern Kryvyi Rih and northeastern Kharkiv also reported attacks from the missile. So far, two deaths and at least five wounded people including two children have been confirmed in Kryvyi Rih. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a top official in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, also reported a strike on a residential building in the city, warning that “there may be people under the rubble”. Power shutdowns have been also been witnessed across the country as some of the missiles have reportedly struck energy facilities in several regions. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, had earlier threatened nuclear retaliation should Western countries continue to interfere in the crisis with Ukraine. Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, fell under Russian control in the early days of the war. The first major power outage in the plant was in August with Ukraine narrowly escaping a nuclear disaster. Analysts have claimed that such strikes targeting energy infrastructure are part of a new Russian strategy to freeze Ukrainians into submission. Putin had said the war would not end till he achieves his goal of “demilitarising and de-Nazifying Ukraine”. Editor’s note: The featured image is used for illustrative purposes.

  The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi has condemned what he described as the “targeted killing” of the party’s house of assembly candidate in Imo State Christopher Eleghu. Eleghu was killed by assailants in the early hours of Friday in his home with the attackers burning his vehicle and other properties, a development Obi says violates the spirit of civility. “I am deeply disturbed by the evidently targeted killing of the Labour Party State House of Assembly candidate for Onuimo LGA in Imo State, Hon. Christopher Eleghu at his home. His house and cars were reportedly set ablaze,” Obi tweeted late Friday. “I condemn these heinous acts in the strongest possible terms. Such acts violate our spirit of security, civility, and the recently signed Peace Accord. Federal and State security agencies must work assiduously to uncover those behind this killing.” I am deeply disturbed by the evidently targeted killing of the Labour Party State House of Assembly Candidate for Onuimo LGA in Imo state, Hon. Christopher Eleghu at his home. His house and cars were reportedly set ablaze. — Peter Obi (@PeterObi) December 16, 2022 A few weeks back, gunmen also killed an LP women leader in Kaduna Victoria Chintex.

  US basketball star Brittney Griner said Friday in her first remarks since being released from a Russian prison that it was “so good to be home” and vowed to play again for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. The 32-year-old Griner, in an Instagram post, thanked a long list of people for securing her release with a “special thank you” to President Joe Biden. “It feels so good to be home!” Griner said. “The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn. I dug deep to keep my faith and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going.” A two-time Olympic gold medalist, WNBA champion and LGBTQ trailblazer, Griner was arrested on drug charges at a Moscow airport in February, against a backdrop of soaring tensions over Ukraine. Griner — who was swapped last week for Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer — said she would do what she can to help secure the release of Paul Whelan, another American held in Russia. “President Biden, you brought me home and I know you are committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too,” she said. “I will use my platform to do whatever I can to help you. Every family deserves to be whole.” Griner also said she planned to be back on the court. “I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season,” she said. The 2023 WNBA season begins in May. Griner’s Mercury are scheduled to play their first game against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 19. Home for the holidays Griner was taken to a US Army base in Texas for a medical checkup after being swapped in Abu Dhabi for Bout, an arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death” who had been serving a 25-year sentence in a US prison. It was not immediately clear from Griner’s Instagram if she had already left the military base, but she said she would be “home to enjoy the holidays with my family.” Her Instagram post was accompanied by a picture of Griner stepping off a plane on US soil and another of her embracing her wife, Cherelle Griner. At the time of her arrest, Griner had been playing for a professional team in Russia, as a number of WNBA players do in the off-season. She was accused of possessing vape cartridges with a small quantity of cannabis oil and sentenced in August to nine years in prison. She pleaded guilty to the charges against her, but said she did not intend to break the law or use the banned substance in Russia. Griner testified that she had permission from a US doctor to use medicinal cannabis to relieve pain from her many injuries. The use of medical marijuana is not allowed in Russia.

  The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor has expressed the the readiness of the military for the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to investigate allegations that the Armed Forces are behind a secret abortion programme in the North East. Irabor said this when he led some senior military officers to the headquarters of the National Human Rights Commission in Abuja. “In recent times, there have been reports which alluded that the armed forces are involved in a government programme of abortions in the North-East of Nigeria from 2013 till date,” he said. “That report was published by Reuters and of course, when we looked at it, we felt, ‘This is certainly not us, and it does not indeed represent the professional standing of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. “‘It does not also indicate the DNA of our operational engagements not just in North-East of Nigeria, but across the length and breadth of this country where we have footprints of operations in line with the duties of the constitution.’” The defence chief stated that the military, being guided by law, saw it fit to submit itself to the NHRC as the appropriate establishment to undertake investigations of alleged human rights violations. Addressing the commission, Irabor said, “The NHRC stands a good ground to carry out such an investigation and if that would be what you decide to do, I wish to use this opportunity to assure you that we grant you unfettered access to our establishments across not just the North-East but across the country.” Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission, Anthony Ojukwu, in his address, explained that in keeping with international standards, such an investigation has to be public, open, transparent, and comply with the principle of fair hearing and accountability. “Your request today is in line with the determination of the commission to investigate the allegations because of the human rights implications. “Accordingly, your visit and request has coincided with the resolve of the commission to investigation in the Reuters report because of the human rights implications in the report. “As you may be aware, the investigation process of the commission must meet the international human rights standards required for this kind of investigation,” he said.

The Federal Government has declared December 26th and 27th as well as January 2nd, 2023 as public holidays to make the Christmas and New Year celebrations respectively. Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola confirmed this in a statement signed by the ministry’s permanent secretary Belgore Shuaib on Friday. The public holidays, the statement added, are to celebrate Christmas, Boxing Day, and New Year in that order. Aregbesola urged Christians to emulate Jesus and reflect on his teachings as they celebrate. Emulate Christ “We must imbibe the life of Jesus Christ in His practice and teachings on humility, service, compassion, patience, peace, and righteousness, that His birth signifies,” he said.”This will be the best way to portray Christ and celebrate his birth.” He also called on them not to allow criminal-minded people to push them into creating anarchy in the country. “This calls for deliberate responsibility and discipline on the part of all,” the former governor said, calling on them to “moderately celebrate the festival avoid the spread of fake news, and be responsible. Take it as a point of duty you own your fatherland ” “The Minister also assures that the Government has put in place effective measures for the security of lives and property and expects Nigerians to support the efforts of security agencies by providing useful information that will assist them in the performance of their duties,” the statement further read. “Aregbesola admonishes all citizens to remain focused and expresses confidence that the year 2023 would be a better year for us all. “He wishes all Christians in particular a happy Christmas and all Nigerians a peaceful and prosperous New Year celebration.”