Presidential Election Petition Tribunal & more –7th Sep 2023

Bawo Ni from BA ! This is the Rorshok Nigeria Update from the 7th of September twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Nigeria.

Let’s kick this week off with what all Nigerians are talking about, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. Pr esidential Candidates of the People's Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, had challenged the presidential elections. Some of the opposition parties include allegations, regarding blurred polling unit results, 25% votes in the Federal Capital Territory (or FCT), among others.

However, the Nigerian Presidential Election Petition Court (or PEPC) struck out the petitions of the major opposition parties against President Tinubu, upholding the declaration of the Nigerian electoral body, The Independent National Electoral Commission (or INEC), that Tinubu won the presidential elections. The PEPC said that the appellants, Obi and Abubakar, failed to prove that a criminal offense had been committed. Both appellants were reported to have refrained themselves from court proceedings, maybe because, according to social med ia users, they had seen their defeat coming

Rounding up the politics gist for today. The opposition parties have rejected the verdicts of the Presidential Election Court. Both parties in separate press releases have insisted that the verdict of the court goes against the country’s constitution. They have subsequently announced that they would consult with their legal representatives to think about the next course of action.

Moving on to the never-ending controversy trailing the academic records of President Tinubu. The Chicago State University (or CSU) has been forced to lock its X (formerly Twitter) account over a series of vitriol attacks by some Nigerians. Recall that the academic records of the Nigerian president have been the subject of serious debates among citizens in the past few weeks, with a Presidential candidate of the opposition party, Atiku Abubakar approaching the United States court to compel the CSU to release the academic records of President Tinubu. However, the US University didn’t release the academic records of the Nigerian president. CSU's lack of action was called into question, with social media users accusing the university of conniving with President Tinubu in hiding his academic results.

In more controversial news, Kayode Fayemi, former Governor of Ekiti State, openly stated on Tuesday, the 5th that the protest of notable political figures in Nigeria, including himself, against fuel subsidy removal in twenty twelve under the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan was only to score political points. They didn’t think that the subsidy removal was a move in the wrong direction. Back in January twenty twenlve, the Jonathan administration announced the removal of fuel subsidies, which saw a rise in the cost of oil from sixty-five naira (about eight US cents) to 140 naira (eighteen cents) per litter. The move immediately sparked protests across Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Labour Congress (or NLC) went on a two-day nationwide warning strike in protest against rising hardship in the country. On Friday, the 1st The Labor Union announced that it would go on a two-day warning strike with the possibility of a total shutdown of the country's economy if their demands weren’t met in the next two to three weeks. (3:50 SE CREO UN PARRAFO EL SOLO)

Electricity companies across Nigeria have decided to join the NLC in its two-day warning strike. On Tuesday, the 5th the country experienced a total blackout across the country, with electricity distribution companies (Known as Discos) choosing to cut off electricity supplies to many households. However, the development was called into question as it came on the heels of the Presidential Election Petition hearing in the Court of Appeal in the capital, Abuja. Many social media users in Nigeria believed it was only a political move to prevent citizens from viewing the court’s proceedings on their TVs.

Now, one of the most shocking scandals that has rocked the Nigerian educational system in recent times. Professor Cyril Ndifon has dragged the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Professor Dorathy Jacob, to court to seek redress against its suspension Back in August, videos of protesting women students of the Faculty of Law in the school went viral on social media as they said they had been sexually harassed by Ndifon. Shortly after the school suspended him, saying that it was a necessary step to investigate the allegations leveled against Ndifon, on Wednesday, the 6th the embattled lecturer filed a suit against the school's Vice Chancellor alleging that he had been unfairly dismissed.

Another scandal has erupted in Nigeria’s top institution. This time, the University of Lagos, better known as UNILAG was at the heart of a new controversy in Nigeria’s educational system. On Thursday the 7th of September, Dr. Kadiri Akeem, an Associate Professor of Botany, was arrested over an allegation of rape involving a twenty-year-old woman student. It was reported that the student had sought the assistance of the lecturer over result issues. However, rather than resolve her academic worries, the lecturer was said to have raped the student. ( 5:06 dijo lo que quiso)

Switching to entertainment, the fresh controversy rocking the Nigerian Bar Association (or NBA). On Thursday, the 31st of August the NBA held a concert at the popular MKO Abiola Stadium. The NBA had invited controversial singer, Habeeb Okikiola (Popularly known as Portable) to perform at the concert. The singer is widely known for his controversial takes and social media rants against colleagues in the music industry, The invitation of Portable to perform was called into question. Some members of the NBA thought the move was unexpected, while others just walked away from the concert.

Twenty twenty-three Nigerian Hip-hop music rising star, Ahmed Ololade, best known as Asake, won the Headies Next Rated and Album of the Year Award at the 16th edition of the Headies Award held on Sunday, the 4th in Atlanta, Georgia. Headies, which is the most-rated music award show in Nigeria, has never seen a new artist win an award in both categories on the same night. Asake held off competition from more established names like Davido, Burna Boy and Rema to win the Album of the Year Award.

We end today’s update with some sports news. Nigeria’s top football athletes, Victor Osimhen and Asisat Oshoala made the male and women’s categories of the Balon’D’Or shortlist. Osimhen, who plays in the Napoli Football Club in Italy, made the thirty-man shortlist after a stellar performance in the twenty twenty-two/twenty t wenty-three season that saw him help his club side to their first league title in thirty-three years. Asisat also made the list for the women’s category after scoring twenty-six goals for Barcelona Femini, and helping them win the league, the Supercopa, and the UEFA Champions League trophies. While Asisat is a regular name on the Balon’D’Or list, Osimhen became the first Nigerian male footballer to make the list since nineteen ninety-nine.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

Did you know that today is the perfect day to subscribe to our show? Already did that? Thanks! Then tell your friends about us!

Remember you can help us financially with the link in our show notes!

O dabo!