News

INEC Ends BVAS Reconfiguration Today, Promises Results Transmission

Published

9 months ago

March 13, 2023

Eric

The ongoing reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines used during the presidential and National Assembly elections on 25 February will end on Monday, according to The Punch report.

The Independent National Electoral Commission had postponed the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections scheduled to hold on March 11 to March 18 in order to be able to reconfigure the BVAS.

Consequently, all activities pertaining to the polls were rescheduled, including inspection of sensitive materials at the Central Bank of Nigeria by the political parties.

INEC took the decision at its management meeting, which was convened on Wednesday after the Court of Appeal gave it the go-ahead to reconfigure the BVAS machines.

The commission said it could not go ahead with the governorship poll as earlier scheduled because it needed time to reconfigure the BVAS machines, which were used for the presidential election on February 25.

The Court of Appeal had dismissed an application by Labour Party challenging the reconfiguration of the BVAS used for the presidential poll, whose outcome LP had rejected.

The appellate court panel held that allowing the objections of the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, would amount to “tying the hands of the respondent (INEC).”

Speaking with our correspondent on Sunday, an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the issue, explained that BVAS reconfiguration had been completed for some states while others would be concluded on Monday

“Most states have finished the reconfiguration and the remaining ones will all finish on Monday,” the source told our correspondent.

The source also gave the assurance that the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections election results would be transmitted on INEC’s result-viewing portal, noting that the glitches that delayed the uploading of presidential poll results had been rectified.

He said “The Polling Unit results will be transmitted on the IReV portal. Indeed, the ones for the February 25 election have almost all been downloaded after we fixed the hitch that had made it difficult to do so.”

On materials distribution ahead of the governorship poll, the official said the sensitive materials would be re-distributed on Wednesday.

“We had completed the distribution of non-sensitive materials before we had to shift the March 11 date for the state elections by a week. Some states had started moving the sensitive materials before the change of date. We have had to return them to the Central Bank of Nigeria for safe keeping in consultation with all stakeholders, including party officials and the police.

“We will move them back to the local governments beginning from Wednesday.”

The Punch

News

JAMB Releases Timetable for 2024 UTME

Published

8 hours ago

November 30, 2023

Eric

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has fixed January 15 to February 26, 2024, for the sale of its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) application document.

This was made known in a statement issued by the JAMB spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, on Wednesday, November 29.

Benjamin noted that the development was based on series of recommendations emanating from a two-day Information Technology (IT) and Management Retreat held between November 26 and 28.

Benjamin noted that March 7, 2024, has been slated for the 2024 Mock-UTME, while the main UTME would hold from April 19 to April 29, 2024.

He, therefore, advised candidates to print their examination slips from April 10, 2024.

The JAMB spokesman added: “Candidates are enjoined to take note of these dates and other advisories issued by the Board in relation to the administration of the examination.

“They are also to visit the Board’s website www.jamb gov.ng for any other information.”

Below is the 2024 JAMB schedule

2024 Jamb Official Timetable:

1. JAMB 2024 Registration Date 14th January 2024

2. JAMB Registration Deadline 14th February 2024

3. JAMB 2024 Registration Fee N4,700

4. JAMB 2024 Novel The Life Changer

5. JAMB 2024 Reprinting Date 29th April 2024

6. JAMB 2024 Mock Exam Date 20th April no 2024

7. JAMB 2024 Examination Date 29th April 2024

News

Diversion to Asaba: United Nigeria Airline Suspends Flight Dispatcher over Wrong Code

Published

23 hours ago

November 29, 2023

Eric

The United Nigeria Airlines (UNA) has suspended the flight dispatcher who entered the wrong code to the dispatch document on Sunday, for a flight to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, which ended up at Asaba airport..

The flight dispatcher (names withheld), according to reports, was issued a suspension letter on Tuesday, by the management of the airline following an outcry from the public, which caused the carrier avoidable embarrassment.

Although the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is already investigating the incident, the suspension of the Dispatcher will remain in place until after the conclusion of the probe.

Head, Corporate Communications, United Nigeria Airlines, Mr. Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu, confirmed the suspension.

Uchegbu clarified that the suspension is not a sack, “but an action to enable investigation.”

The flight Dispatcher, on Sunday, entered into the dispatch document ABB, which is the code for Asaba International Airport, Delta State, instead of ABV, the code for Abuja airport.

Commenting on the incident, President of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Comrade Galadima Abednego, described the situation as worrisome.

Speaking in Kano at the ongoing National Air Traffic Communicators’ Association of Nigeria (NACAN) 10th Annual General Meeting/Conference, Galadima said: “I would not like to call it a diversion. It is quite a worrisome situation, where an aircraft that is Abuja bound found itself in Asaba. It has serious safety and security breaches.”

News

Appeal Court Judgment: Fresh Crisis Rocks Kano

Published

23 hours ago

November 29, 2023

Eric

A wave of fresh protests have broken out in the Kano metropolis as thousands of residents on Wednesday trooped to the streets demonstrating their rejection of the Appeal Court judgment sacking of Governor Abba Yusuf.

The appellate court, on September 20, upheld the verdict of the State Election Petition Tribunal led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay, which sacked Yusuf and declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC),Nasir Ganuwa, the authentic winner of the March 18 governorship election in the State.

The tribunal had ruled that 165,663 votes garnered by Yusuf of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) were invalid on the grounds that they were not signed or stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), thus reducing his votes to 853,939 while those of the APC rival remained at 890,705.

Yusuf, who was not satisfied with the tribunal judgment, took his case to the Appeal Court only for it to uphold the verdict.

With the outcome of the appeal court, there has been tension in the state as several groups who are in support of Yusuf have been holding sporadic protests against the ruling which they see as a travesty of justice.

Different groups had also reportedly fixed protests but were dispelled by security operatives who prevented them from going ahead with the demonstrations to prevent break down of law and order.

However, despite concerted efforts by the police and other security agencies, the protesters defied all warnings and took over the streets in the city to protest the ruling of the appeal court.

The protesters were seen carrying placards as chanting slogans like “We will not accept it”; “We will not allow it”; “Kano belongs to Abba”; “Our mandate must be restored”; “Injustice exposed in CTC”; among others.

It was gathered that efforts by security operatives to disperse the protesters were abortive as they stood their ground and refused to back off.