Digital Leonard Blog

It is a busy day in Botswana as voters head to the polls today for crucial general elections in one of Africa’s most stable democracies. It is expected that over 900,000 registered voters will cast their ballots across the country to elect members of the national assembly and by extension the president of the southern African nation. To allow for full participation of citizens in thee electoral process, the government declared October 23 – 25 as public holidays. The country’s polls opened on Wednesday at 6:30 a.m. (0430 GMT) for a general election that is expected to provide the first genuine challenge to the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in its five decades of dominance. Out of Botswana’s total population of 2.2 million people, 924,000 registered voters will elect 57 national assembly and 490 local government representatives. Polls close at 7 p.m. Duma Boko, leader of the Umbrella for Democratic Change, is hoping to unseat the BDP of President Mokgweetsi Masisi with the campa...

Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu, the wife of an APC governorship aspirant in Kogi, has stated that governorship candidates for the November 16 election in the state are preparing for war and not election. Reacting to the fears expressed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of possible violence in Kogi during the governorship poll, she condemned the stockpiling of weapons ahead of the poll. She said she would mobilize mothers of political thugs in the 21 local government area of the state to ensure a hitch free election, come November 16. Zahrah disclosed her plans to lead a delegation of women to man all polling units in the state during an interview in Abuja, saying there must be free and fair election in Kogi. “ There are problems in Kogi State even though it is my wish and desire for the APC to continue to govern Kogi State. It is my wish for our incumbent governor who is our candidate to continue and finish his tenure but not at the cost of lives and properties of ...

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of Kano state has accused the state government of sponsoring an attack on the convoy of their leader, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. This was made known in a statement by the spokesperson for the party, Mallam Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa. He alleged that the attack, which occurred while party faithful were on their way back from Kwankwaso village, left 15 members critically injured and 10 vehicles destroyed. Tofa said Senator Kwankwaso had gone to   commission a private College of Nursing and Midwifery (NAFCONM) constructed in honour of his 63rd birthday accompanied by some of the injured party members. Tofa alleged that hundreds of political thugs had assembled at the Sharada/Sabon Titin Panshekara underpass bridge with the sole aim of disrupting their convoy and harming members. He claimed the thugs destroyed the vehicles of Air Commodore Zakari Sani and Dr. Danyaro Ali Yakasai, a former Commandant General of the Federal Road Safety Corps among se...

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has expressed President Muhammadu Buhari’s determination to accelerate economic growth with a view to meeting the needs of Nigerians in his second term in office. Oshiomhole made this known in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Simon Ebegbulem, on Tuesday, when a delegation from the Vietnamese Government paid him a courtesy in Abuja. The delegation was led by His Excellency, Nguyen Hai Ninh, the Deputy Chief of Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam. According to the National chairman of the ruling party, to achieve this, the Federal Government is reviving our textile industry. “ The idea is to work towards taking advantage of comparative advantage in this sector in order to help provide jobs to the over 200 million of our population ,” Oshiomhole said.   According to him, Buhari is in a haste to provide jobs to unemployed Nigerians as well as boost the growth...

The Executive Governor  of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike has fulfilled his promise to donate N200 million to the family of the late Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Khana Local Government Area Governorship Election agent, Dr Ferry Gberegbe. Gberegbe, who was a lecturer at the Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, was killed during election duty allegedly by operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS). Wike had visited the family and promised to support the family, and the children of the late PDP Chieftain. He went on to announce a N200 million scholarship for Gberegbe’s four children. The governor further directed the widow of the deceased to open bank accounts for each of the four children. He said: “ The state government will offer scholarship to the four young children left behind by the deceased. The mother of the children should open dedicated account for each of the children.   The state government will pay N50 million to each of the four children for their educa...

The Ekiti State Government on Monday set the wheels in motion to implement the Supreme Court judgment which relocated the headquarters of Ilejemeje Local Government Area council from Iye-Ekiti to Eda Oniyo. This is coming over 10 months since the court ordered the state government to immediately return the headquarters of the local government to Eda-Oniyo from where it was relocated to Iye-Ekiti, shortly after the state was created on October 1, 1996. Following the pronouncement of Iye-Ekiti as the headquarters against Eda Oniyo contained in the Federal Government’s gazette, the Eda Oniyo people went to court to contest what they described as a “politically motivated relocation” of the headquarters by the then military governor, Col. Inua Mohammed Bawa . In delivering his judgement, Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour on December 14, 2018, ordered the relocation of Ilejemeje council headquarters from Iye-Ekiti to Eda Oniyo, thereby putting an end to a 19-year battle, which began at the state Hi...

The attack that was carried out by hoodlums on the convoy of Kogi state governorship candidate, Mr Musa Wada, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi on Saturday, has left a man named Yusuf Seidu Uhiene dead. The Deputy Director, Public Communication of the PDP in the state, Austin Okai, in a statement said the increased rate of attacks was becoming a threat to the successful conduct of the November 16 governorship election in Kogi. He disclosed that Uhiene was killed by thugs believed to be supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress. According to him, two other PDP supporters, Nasiru Sule and Ilemona, sustained serious injuries during the attack. He said, “ Our candidate, Engr Musa Wada, was in Anyigba to attend the Kogi East PDP stakeholders meeting. “Between the main road and Harbour bay, the venue of the meeting, APC thugs unleashed mayhem on our supporters killing one and injuring two others. ”