The Lagos State Governorship Election Tribunal has struck out the Labour Party and its candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, from the petition of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Olajide Adediran popularly known as Jandor, against the recent governorship election. Jandor is challenging the return of Babajide SanwoOlu and Obafemi Hamzat in the March 18 governorship election in Lagos State. Shortly after the announcement of appearances by all lawyers and parties in the case at Monday’s proceeding, the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Arum Ashom, announced that the court would first deliver judgment in the case of the PDP & its candidate before giving its judgment in the petition of the governorship candidate of the Labour Party, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour. Justice Ashom also yielded the floor to his brother judge, Justice Mikail Abdullahi to read the judgment on behalf of the panel. The third judge on the panel is Justice Igho Braimoh. The tribunal, in its judgment read by Justice Abdullahi, first dwelt on the preliminary objections filed by the parties. The first objection taken is whether the 3rd Respondent, the Deputy Governor of Lagos, Obafemi Hamzat is a separate and distinct candidate from the 2nd respondent, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. The tribunal was also asked to determine whether the deputy governor could be listed as a respondent in the petition. The Tribunal noted that this issue has been decided in a number of cases and went on to hold that a deputy governor and governor are not separately candidates and they are not required to pay a separate security deposit. In the second objection, the tribunal was asked to decide whether a person who lost an election could be joined as a respondent in an election petition. Jandor had joined the Candidate of the Labour Party, Rhodes-Vivour as a respondent in his petition. Citing a list of decided cases, the tribunal agreed that a petition is contemplated to be filed between the winner and the loser of an election and not between two persons who lost. The tribunal therefore upheld the preliminary objection and subsequently struck out the name of the 5th respondent, Rhodes-Vivour from the petition filed by Jandor. The tribunal also expunged from its records all exhibits tendered in evidence by Rhodes-Vivour in the petition filed by Jandor. The tribunal went on to hold that Rhodes-Vivour cannot subsequently go on to challenge any part of the judgment of the Jandor’s petition or else he becomes a meddlesome interloper. In a similar vein, the Tribunal held that the 6th respondent, the Labour Party ought not to have made a respondent in Jandor & the PDP’s petition. The name of the party was subsequently struck out for being improperly joined. All evidence and exhibits concerning the party were also expunged from the tribunal’s records. The Tribunal however disagreed with the objections made by the APC & its candidate that the Mis joinder of the LP & its candidate was a ground for striking out the petition. The tribunal held, “That the 5th & 6th respondent ought not to have been made respondents to the petition cannot rob the tribunal of the jurisdiction to hear the parties. The question of misjoinder cannot lead to a striking out of the petition as the proper order to make is to strike out the names of the parties”. “Already the name of the 5th respondent has been struck out and the 6th respondent who has been found to be improperly joined is also ordered to be struck out”. Hearing of the judgment is still underway as of the time of filing this report.

  The Federal Government on Monday, said no world leader had been invited for the 63rd independence anniversary scheduled for October 1. The government said the decision was taken in line with its option for a low-key celebration. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, stated this during a press conference in Abuja. He said, “Low keyed celebration has nothing to do with whether we’re not doing well. Economic times are hard, we are looking at it not just at the national level but also as a family. We have not invited world leaders. During the inauguration of the President 53 world leaders were invited, so we have not invited any world leader. The report of the investigator for CBN will soon be ready for the public. As you are aware, the President has given his approval for this 63rd anniversary to be low-key in line with the present economic realities. The theme of the anniversary is “Nigeria @ 63, Renewed Hope for Unity & Prosperity.” Speaking on national interest, he said, “We have all agreed to live a united peaceful, united, prosperous country, despite our diversity. Without these, no nation can move forward. Government is making sure our national interest is not undermined.” According to him, the celebration is particularly important at this time having witnessed an unbroken democratic record since 1999 as well as the seamless, successful and peaceful presidential transition programme from one government to another. Despite political tremors and a wave of coups in some parts of the ECOWAS sub-region, Nigerians have fully embraced democracy with its core values and practices as the best form of governance. Democracy affords the citizens the opportunity through elective structures and processes to effectively participate in the affairs of their country. The relationship between the people and government in representative democracy is symbiotic: while the citizens support the government, the government provides security, protects, and enhances their interests. “The government is fully aware of the economic challenges that Nigerians are confronted with since the removal of the fuel subsidy as well as the impact of the global economic downturn. The government is working assiduously to provide the necessary palliatives so as to mitigate such challenges and also the provision of buses to ease hardship on transportation among others. At the same time, the government is engaging with labour in order to address areas of concern for the well-being of all Nigerian workers and Nigerians generally. “It is for this reason that this government led by His Excellency, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, is anchoring on the Renewed Hope Agenda which will improve food security; guarantee end to poverty; improve security; economic growth and job creation; access to capital; improve the playing field on which people and particularly companies operate; respect for the rule of law; and fight against corruption. Among the programmes lines up for the event included anniversary symposium/public Lecture, on Thursday, September 28, 2023 at State house Conference Center @ 10 am; lecture on Friday September 29 2023 at the National Mosque Conference Center by 10 am and Juma’at Prayer at the National Mosque at 1pm. Akume also announced presidential broadcast on Sunday, October 12023 at 7am; inter-denominational church service on Sunday, October 1, 2023 at the National Christian Center at 10:00 am and military parade on Monday October 2 2023 at the Presidential Villa, at 9am. “I therefore call on you as media professionals and patriots to support this administration and build workable partnership in order to transform our country into the land of our dream. Also, I count on you to publicise activities lined up to mark Nigeria’s 63rd Independence anniversary,” he said.

  Festus Akande, the Public Relations Officer for the court, says the fire incident that occurred on Monday morning has no connection and won’t have an effect on the presidential election petition. Vanguard reported earlier that a wing of the Supreme Court complex situated at the Three-Arm-Zone, Abuja, was engulfed by fire on Monday morning.   Speaking during an interview on Arise TV on Monday, Akande stated that the fire outbreak won’t affect anything in the court. He said, “As a matter of fact, there’s no single connection, and it won’t affect anything in the court. “This incident occurred in a chamber equipped with a computer and other equipment, as well as a functional library used by any justice occupying such chamber. “The only thing that was affected were the books and computer equipment in the chamber. Even the books are replaceable. “Also, it has nothing to do with it because it was from an electrical fault, which could happen anywhere, and there are things that happen daily.”

  The Nigerian Navy (NN) has disowned the purported list of successful candidate for its Basic Training School (NNBTS) Batch 35 Recruitment, saying it is fake. Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, the Director of Naval Information, said this in a statement in Abuja. Ayo-Vaughan said the exercise was conducted in three centres across the country, namely; Lagos, Rivers and Kaduna States. He described the information, being circulated recently as fake, and handiwork of fraudulent miscreants who were trying to dupe some unsuspecting applicants. He said the list of successful candidates had not been released and that no form of invitation for training, via text message had also been disseminated by the Nigerian Navy. ‘’The alarming rate of circulation of fake information by unscrupulous individuals, regarding enlistment or recruitment into Navy is quite worrisome. ‘’Efforts are on to track and arrest the miscreants. “Members of the public especially prospecting applicants who participated in the said recruitment are strongly enjoined to always authenticate information from the NN official website, https://www.navy.mil.ng, and other official social media handles, as well as other credible mainstream media platforms. “Similarly, miscreants and mischief makers are warned to desist from this unwholesome practice, otherwise they will face the full wrath of the law,” he said. Ayo-Vaughan said the text message, had invited unsuspecting applicants to report for military training at NNBTS Onne, Rivers, following their purported selection. He said the criminals further claimed in the text message that the exercise would commence on Oct. 6.

  The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has dismissed fake job postings that have been circulating online in recent weeks. NNPC, in a statement signed by its management on Monday, disclosed that the company is not recruiting at the moment It, however, urged the general public that whenever recruitment is conducted, it will be announced on its website and official social media handles. “The general public is hereby informed that NNPC Limited is not recruiting. Whenever recruitment is conducted, it will be announced on our website and official social media handles.” NNPC said.

  The federal government says Nigeria has recorded 7,202 confirmed cases and 453 deaths from diphtheria since the confirmation of the current outbreak in December 2022. A joint statement from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency ( NPHCDA) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Monday, said as of September 24, 2023, “there have been 11,587 reported suspected cases out of which 7,202 were confirmed cases from 105 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in (18) States including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The federal government said most (6,185) of the confirmed cases were recorded in Kano. It said other states with cases are Yobe (640), Katsina (213), Borno (95), Kaduna (16), Jigawa (14), Bauchi (8), Lagos (8), FCT (5), Gombe (5), Osun (3), Sokoto (3), Niger (2), Cross River (1), Enugu (1), Imo (1), Nasarawa (1) and Zamfara (1) It said the majority (73.6%) of the confirmed cases occurred among children aged 1 – 14 years with those aged 5-14 years bearing most of the brunt of the disease. “So far, a total of 453 deaths have occurred in confirmed cases giving a case fatality rate (CFR) of 6.3%,” it said. The statement said the Coordinating Minister of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare , Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, set up a national emergency task team co-chaired by the Executive Director of the NPHCDA and the Director General of the NCDC for higher level coordination of outbreak response efforts following findings that 80% of confirmed cases in the ongoing outbreak are unvaccinated. Other prominent members of the task force include Director of Public Health-FMOH, representatives from the Federal Ministry of Information, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), USCDC, USAID, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, other non-governmental organizations and development partners. “Since the confirmation of an outbreak, the FMOH&SW through her agencies has been coordinating surveillance and response activities across the country. These include response coordination, surveillance, laboratory investigation, vaccination, case management, and risk communication activities,” the statement said. Diphtheria, caused by a toxin produced by the bacteria Corynebacterium diphtheriae, is a vaccine-preventable disease covered by one of the vaccines provided routinely through Nigeria’s childhood immunization schedule. The federal government advised parents to ensure that their children are fully vaccinated against diphtheria with the 3 doses of diphtheria antitoxin-containing pentavalent vaccine given as part of Nigeria’s childhood immunisation schedule. It also advised healthcare workers to maintain a high index of suspicion for diphtheria and practice standard infection prevention and control precautions while handling all patients in their care. “The most effective protection against diphtheria is vaccination with the Pentavalent or TD vaccine. The Federal Government of Nigeria provides free, safe, and effective vaccines at all Primary Healthcare Centres nationwide. We invite the public to take advantage of the ongoing vaccination occurring in all states,” it stated