Politics
100 Days: Wike Declares Projects Ready
The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, used the first two days of last week to inspect ongoing projects in the state to ascertain their readiness for commissioning as part of activities to mark the first 100 days of his second term administration.
Last Monday, Governor Wike inspected the Mother and Child Hospital, Birabi Road, and the Judges Quarters. He also inspected the Rumuwoji Market, popularity known as Mile One Market, as well as the Port Harcourt Fruit Garden Market.
The State Chief Executive continued his project inspection last Tuesday as he visited the Real Madrid Football Academy and the Craft Development Centre, both in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
The governor who addressed Government House Press at the end of the inspection expressed satisfaction at the quality and speed of work at the project sites. He particularly noted that the quality of work at the Craft Development Centre shows that indigenous contractors also have the capacity to deliver in line with approved specification.
He expressed satisfactions with the operations of the Taskforce on Street Trading, saying: “ With what we have seen, it means they will do well”.
He declared that the state government would employ additional 450 youths to be involved in the operation to clean up Port Harcourt city.
Wike explained that offenders were not prosecuted so far, because his administration is a friendly one but that from this week the era of grace would be over and those caught contravening the state street trading law, will be made to face the law.
The disquiet created last week in the state by the false allegation by the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), that Rivers State Government demolished a mosque in the state forced the state governor to visit site of the controversial mosque last Monday.
Wike who confirmed the allegation to be false, said, “ It is most unfortunate that fickle-minded persons will claim that a mosque was demolished at this place, when no mosque existed”, adding that the story was concocted by mischief makers to score cheap political points.
The Brick House landlord, played host to three high profile visitors who were in Government House, Port Harcourt last week. They are; the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Ms Callamard Agnes , the British new Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ms Gill Atkinson and the National Programme Coordinator, World Bank Better Education Service Delivery for All ( BESDA), Prof Gidado Tahir.
Wike who spoke last Wednesday, while granting audience to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, called for the establishment of state police in the country.
He said the present security structure makes it difficult for the federal police to respond quickly to security challenges against a state police system that would guarantee swift and a more effective approach to security challenges.
“ We believe that there should be state police for us to effectively fight crime in the country. Our system is fashioned towards the United States, which has federal, state and local police. Each of them have their responsibilities”, he said.
Wike further stated that his administration established the Neighborhood Safety Corps Agency which would have helped the security agencies with information, but that the federal government politicised it by sending the Nigerian Army to ensure that it did not come to fruition.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Ms Callamard Agnes had earlier stated that she was interested in documenting the nature and extent of killings by state and non-state actors.
“ I am interested on how the federal and state governments respond to the challenges of violence by state and non state actors “, she said.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by the World Bank Better Education Service Delivery for All ( BESDA), Thursday in Government House, Governor Wike said his administration temains committed to creating access to basic education for rural and oceanic communities.
He said his administration has embarked on reconstruction and furnishing of 253 basic schools mostly located in the rural areas, trained over 3000 teachers, approved the employment of 10,000 teachers and abolished all forms of fees in both primary and seconfary school levels among other laudable efforts.
Chris Oluoh
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted on the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise yesterday (Sunday) despite calls by some opposition political parties and civil society organisations for an extension over concerns that millions of citizens could be excluded from the 2027 general elections.
In a notice issued on its X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday, the commission reminded the public that the exercise would end on Sunday, July 26, with designated registration centres open from 9am to 3pm.
“Your future won’t wait. Neither should you. The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends Sunday, 26 July 2026,” the Commission stated.
INEC also reminded prospective voters that they could complete the registration process online through its dedicated CVR portal or visit designated INEC offices and registration centres nationwide for physical assistance.
The new Electoral Act stipulates that INEC is required to stop voter registration, updating and revision of the voters’ register 90 days before an election to allow for data clean-up, the printing of Permanent Voter Cards and other logistical preparations.
The law also requires the Commission to display the voters’ register for claims and objections within the stipulated period to enable eligible Nigerians to challenge omissions and errors and help ensure the credibility of the final register for the polls.
The INEC National Commissioner on Information and Voter Education, Mr Mohammed Haruna, told The Tide source that the Commission would not extend the deadline, stressing that the registration exercise had to close to allow the electoral body to begin cleaning the data already collected.
“By midnight on Sunday, voter registration ends. There won’t be any extension. There are so many things that we need to do at the back end. We have to draw a line; otherwise, we won’t be able to produce a clean copy of what has been posted,” he said.
Mr Haruna explained that the commission’s Information Technology team and the Voter Registration Department would begin processing the data immediately after the closure of the registration window.
He said INEC would deploy its Automated Biometric Identification System to detect and remove multiple registrations before the provisional voters’ register is displayed for public scrutiny.
“We have this automatic biometric system that will check whether somebody has registered more than once. They will publish the register for claims and objections. That is, if anybody thinks a name shouldn’t be on the register, or if he has some claims, for instance, that his name has been omitted or some of his details are incorrect,” he said.
According to him, the final number of newly registered voters would only be known after the biometric verification and the claims and objections process.
“So, it’s after all that has been done that we will have a final figure, which we will now add to the existing 93 million or so. That will then become the voters’ register. We are mandated to give every political party a copy ahead of the election,” Mr Haruna added.
Responding to concerns over the number of Nigerians who may be excluded from the 2027 electoral process by the closure, the national commissioner said INEC could only account for eligible citizens who presented themselves for registration.
He added that the commission had recorded registrations through its online platform, physical registration centres and INEC offices across the 774 local government areas.
According to a public announcement signed by Mr Ariyo Rufus, Head of Department, Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Inclusivity on behalf of Mr Oluwatoyin Babalola, the INEC Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the said exercise is aimed at assessing its operational readiness and testing the efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of the governorship poll.
INEC stated that the exercise would simulate Election Day accreditation procedures but clarified that no voting would take place during the exercise.
The commission explained that “the mock accreditation would be conducted in selected polling units spread across the three senatorial districts of Osun State, covering Osun Central, Osun East and Osun West.
“In Osun Central Senatorial District, the selected local government areas are Osogbo, Olorunda, Ifelodun and Boripe, with designated polling units identified for the exercise.
“For Osun East Senatorial District, the exercise will take place in selected polling units across Ilesa West, Ilesa East, Oriade and Obokun local government areas.”
INEC also listed Egbedore, Ede North, Ede South and Ejigbo local government areas as the selected councils for the mock accreditation exercise in Osun West Senatorial District.
The commission urged all registered voters whose polling units were selected to participate in the exercise, stressing that only holders of valid Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be accredited.
“This exercise is designed to test the functionality and efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) under conditions similar to Election Day. There shall be no voting during the exercise,” the Commission stated.
INEC reaffirmed its appreciation to residents of Osun State for their continued cooperation and support throughout the electoral process.
INEC also assured political parties, the media, civil society organisations and other stakeholders of the Commission’s commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive governorship election in Osun State.
Mr Dare made the remark while criticizing Alhaji Abubakar for hiring a United States of America lobbyist with $1.2 million, in preparation for the 2027 elections.
In a statement he personally signed, Mr Dare said the former vice president can’t take Nigeria down the path of self-destruction.
The statement read in part: “Worse still, for a man who presumes to offer leadership to Africa’s most populous nation, his recent resort to grievance offshoring, outsourcing political warfare to Washington and reportedly paying $1.2 million to an American lobbying firm to peddle petitions against a sitting Nigerian President, stands as an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and a vote of no confidence in its democratic institutions.
“It is also a stinging slight, an implicit condescension directed at generations of Nigerian journalists, policy analysts, academics, and public intellectuals who have spent decades analysing, critiquing, and carrying the burden of the nation’s democratic evolution.
“The Atiku Abubakar of today cuts a pitiable figure, a grotesque portrait of what a politician becomes when ambition overwhelms judgment and every political faculty becomes programmed for self-destruction.
“No, Atiku cannot take Nigeria down that path with him. He must travel it alone. But first, Nigerians deserve Atiku Abubakar’s report card. Charity, they say, begins at home, not in Washington.
“Nigerians deserve to know whether the Atiku Abubakar who has long presented himself as a democrat is, in reality, a politician of many colours. He has erected for himself a throne built simultaneously on sand and bayonets. It is time to explode the bayonets.”
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