General News
D. Day as 56m Nigerians Choose between GEJ and GMB
No fewer than 56 million Nigerians will file out today to elect the next president in an election believed to be the keenest in the history of the country, according to Punch newspapers.
The figure represents 81.9 per cent of the total number of 70,383,427 voters that registered for the election.
The ruling Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the opposition All Progressives Congress candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) are once again asking for Nigerians’ votes in this year’s general elections to enable them to lead the country.
The two political gladiators contested in the 2011 general elections won by Jonathan. But this year’s election has generated much tension across the country following the near equal strength of the two major presidential candidates in the poll.
According to Punch, the Independent National Electoral Commission had in February shifted the general elections as a result of insecurity in the North-East and poor distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, had said that the commission was empowered by Section 26 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) to shift national elections due to some factors.
He explained that the postponement followed reports by the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) and other service chiefs that their agencies would not be able to guarantee security of the commission’s personnel in some parts of the country. Jega had denied that INEC was forced to shift the polls, adding that the electoral body took the best decision under the prevailing circumstances.
“Nobody has forced us to take this decision; it is a very weighty decision, but under the present circumstances, we have taken the best decision and we stand by it,” he had said.
The postponement of the elections was said to have given security agencies the opportunity to reduce the insecurity posed by the Boko Haram terrorist group in the three North-Eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe as well as to allow the electoral body to improve in its distribution of the PVCs.
INEC, in its bid to ensure credible conduct of the elections, introduced a lot of innovations, including the PVCs and the smart card readers to prevent rigging.
The electoral body also increased existing polling units by 30,000. By this addition, the total number of polling units across the country’s 774 local government areas is now 150,000 from the initial 119,973.
The creation of the additional units was contained in an INEC bulletin signed by the Director in charge of the commission’s secretariat, Ishiaku Gali.
Gali had said the decision to create the additional polling units was taken at the commission’s meeting on August 12, 2014 so as to decongest polling units across the country.
As Nigerians elect the new president today, however, the electoral body has put the current total number of registered voters at 70,383,427 of which Lagos State with 5,426,391 has the highest number of registered voters. Nigeria’s commercial capital is followed by Kano with the second highest number of registered voters of 4,751,818.
Meanwhile, INEC has warned the electorate to shun activities that could trigger off breakdown of law and order as they vote for the candidates of their choice.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ekiti, Mr. Sam Olumekun, and Head, Voter Education in Kwara State, Mr. Jacob Iyanda, asked the electorate to remain orderly while casting their ballots.
Olumekun, who spoke with Saturday PUNCH through the commission’s Public Relations Officer, Alhaji Taiwo Gbadegesin, said, “Voters are to be orderly and follow the instructions of electoral officers. They are not supposed to accept bribe because that is against the ethics of the election.”
Also, Iyanda warned voters or politicians against canvassing for votes during accreditation.
He said, “Voters are expected to come to the polling units with their PVCs. Secondly, they should follow the instructions of INEC officials because they are going to move from one point to the other in the process of accreditation.
“Voters should not canvass for vote, they should not wear any clothe or cap that has symbol of any political party. No symbol of a political party should be found on them. Voters should cast their votes and if they know they want to stay back to watch the proceedings, they should stay quietly and stay out of trouble.
“It is also wrong for them to accept bribe from party agents to cast their votes.
“Voters should make sure that once they finish accreditation between 8am and 1pm, by the time the real voting is supposed to come up by 1.30pm, everybody is supposed to be at the polling units. Once the voters are called to queue up and counted, then it will be difficult to start looking for someone who is not around. So before 1.30 pm, all voters must have converged on the polling units.”
The Deputy Director in charge of Voter Education in Osun State, Rev. Canon Stephen Ojewande, warned politicians and their parties against making provocative comments that could create bad blood among voters.
Urging voters to conduct themselves at the polling units while exercising their civic responsibility peacefully, Ojewande assured them of adequate security.
He also warned that anyone caught canvassing for votes on the election day would be dealt with according to the provision of the law.
Ojewande said, “We want voters to go to their polling units with their PVCs. Accreditation will be done and after this, voting will start. Nobody should canvass for votes during accreditation or voting time.”
Head of Voters Education Department in Oyo State, Mr. Ayodele Folami, said voters were expected to arrive at the polling units by 8am for accreditation.
He said, “We have electoral guidelines guiding the conduct of our staff, ad-hoc members and voters. It is standard rule and having gone through more than a decade of democratic process, we expect voters to have acquainted themselves with the rules. They are expected to be at the polling units by 8am and cooperate with our staff while verifying their PVCs.
“They are also expected to be law-abiding and respect the next voter who could be loyal to a rival party. Normally, political discussion is not allowed around the polling units because it could lead to violence.”
Folami added, “At no time on the day of the election will candidates or their supporters be allowed to campaign. All campaigns stop before the day. Campaign on such day is against electoral guidelines. Any politician who does so on the days of the elections will face the law and could jeopardise his chances or that of his candidate. It is also a crime to take bribe from party agents to cast vote for their candidate on election day.”
In Plateau, the police said that they had taken measures, along with all relevant authorities and stakeholders to forestall breakdown of law and order during the polls.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Emmanuel Abuh, said that the police are also in touch with heads of various institutions, including universities, asking them to sensitise members of their communities against being used by unscrupulous politicians or taking the law into their hands.
He said, “Just as we have been briefing various stakeholders on the preparations for the elections, the police are working round the clock. No segment of the society will be left or neglected. Every precautionary measure has been taken to ensure that there is no breakdown of law and order.
He added, “As you can see, all the security agencies in the state carried out a show of force round the streets of Jos and its environs. This is to show you that we are serious about the election.”
Assistant Registrar, Information and Publication, University of Jos, Mr. Aaron Abdullahi, said that the institution did not envisage any problem during the polls as students are currently on break till April 16.
Abdullahi said, “The students are currently on break until April 16, but we have adequate security cover on campus right now. UNIJOS security staff members are currently on one-week intensive training from Monday, March 23 to 27. The resource persons are drawn from the police, DSS, military and other security experts.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Road Safety Commission said the body had deployed 20,000 personnel and 413 patrol vehicles along designated routes for today’s elections.
Corps Marshal, FRSC, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, said this was to ensure sanity on the nation’s highways during the polls.
This is contained in a statement signed by the Spokesperson for the commission, Mr. Imoh Etuk, and made available to Saturday PUNCH in Abuja on Thursday.
It said the commission had drawn a roadmap toward effective patrolling of designated routes on the highways to ensure best road safety practices among road users during the exercise.
It said the 24 Emergency Ambulance Response Centres at the various routes across the country would also complement efforts of the commission.
The routes are: FCT, Kaduna, Gombe, Jigawa, Taraba, Niger, Kogi, Ondo, Edo, Osun, Nasarawa, Plateau and Kwara states where the centres were located.
He said, “Motorists are hereby enjoined to ensure proper planning and management of trips through maintenance of their vehicles and compliance with traffic rules and regulations.
“ Road users are strictly warned to desist from all road vices such as overloading, speed limit violation, non-use of seat belt, route violation (driving against traffic), making/receiving calls while driving and night trips.
“Details of the objectives of this special exercise include the removal of obstructions from the highways; traffic control/decongestion and public enlightenment campaigns.
“Road users are strictly advised to desist from night trips and ensure that vehicles which ply the highways conform with safety standard,” the corps marshal added.
He listed functional head/tail lights, wipers, tyres, fire extinguisher, caution sign and non-defective windscreen as some of the basic conditions to be met by all motorists.
Oyeyemi urged motorists to call the FRSC Toll Free Emergency Numbers: 122 and 070022553772 to report any traffic crash or any other traffic-related challenges, for prompt response.
By Tim Akano
Leo Stan Ekeh (LSE) is an extraordinary human being. He is extremely hardworking, hugely brave, and massively intelligent. He is a shrewd businessman but with a cathedral-size heart of butterfly
Leo Stan Ekeh
I’m a product of LSE’s generosity. But not only me, I am close enough to know. We are uncountable.
I was always with him after office hours in his office twenty years ago when he was constructing a church in his place of birth. He was so committed to details and beauty that when the church was roofed and he went for inspection and discovered some misalignment, he instructed the contractor to remove the roof and redo it, without minding the extra cost coming from his pocket.
There was this physically challenged fellow that LSE bought a car for, including a driver to make life easier for her.
During one of his birthday celebrations, he told me, Tim, I am not inviting my friends for any birthday party this year, all the money I would have used in buying expensive wine, I am donating everything to charity
LSE & I
He actually looked for me when I started New Horizons. He read my interview in the Vanguard news paper and asked his staff to look for me.
Prayer:
May each of us receive a telephone call before the end of 2025 that will change our life’s trajectory for good for ever in Jesus name, Amen.
I did.!
Our conversation on that fateful Friday went like this:
LSE: Tim, I read your interview in the newspaper. I would like us to meet.
Tim: You are our LEADER in the Technology ecosystem, Sir.
I can come to your house tomorrow Saturday morning for a breakfast.
LSE: Tim, that’s good, I will be expecting you by 8am tomorrow in my house.
By 8am the following day, I was in his massive, intimidating house.
As I entered the premises I said a simple prayer: The God Almighty who is blessing LSE, please Daddy God be kind to me also in my entrepreneurship journey Amen.
That day the breakfast meeting went well. He wanted to see the man behind the ambitious vision of transforming the ICT education in Nigeria.
He saw tomorrow!
1 LSE First Intervention: Two years after I started my company, New Horizons, I ran out of cash, even to pay salary was a prayer item every 30th of the month. That was May, 2007 it remained just 72 hours for Heaven to fall on my head, metaphorically speaking, that is!
I needed N10M to stop HEAVEN FROM CRASHING ON MY HEAD!
Banks in Nigeria are irrelevant to Start-ups, except and until you START WALKING, Banks will not come to your assistance in Nigeria.
It is O.Y.O (On Your Own) for every Start-up. If you don’t have God 100% on your side, don’t dabble into entrepreneurship in Nigeria!
This is why over 80% of Start-ups failed in Nigeria. In America, it is about 50%.
LSE was in Abuja on this particular Thursday. I called him and requested to see him. He told me to come.
Our conversation went like this:
LSE: Tim, I know you are keeping well.
Tim: My chairman, I am strong in faith, but in reality, heaven is hot on my side o! I need help, Chairman.
LSE: What is the matter, Tim?
Tim: I need N10M soft loan to keep afloat. It is urgent, critical and time- bound.
LSE ok, Tim, see me on Monday (that meeting took place on a Thursday).
Tim: My chairman, I am not exaggerating the criticality of my situation. by Monday it would be too late because Heaven would crash on my head in another 72 hours without the N10M! And it would be all over.
LSE adjusted himself, he breathed in , he looked me straight in the eyes. I wouldn’t know what LSE saw in my eyes that day.
But he stood up, went to the inner room and he came out with his cheque book. He gave me an Access Bank cheque for N10M, which I later refunded 3 months later without interest.
I survived, heaven didn’t fall that day, glory be to God and thanks to LSE.
LSE intervention 2:
This time we had grown, having survived the ABIKU YEARS (The first 5 years of Start-up are the ABIKU YEARS, years of premature, sudden death. If you survive the first 5 years, your chances of living to celebrate your 20 years in business are bright). We did, all gratitude to God.
I got a business that required huge capital to execute- very big money, which was beyond my capacity.
I went to my destiny- helper again. He is never tired of seeing me. He picks my calls on the first ring. But I don’t abuse the access too. No frivolous conversations. No irrelevant calls. Every call is about matter and mission critical
This particular day LSE was looking extremely tired, having over flogged his body.
He told me he had been sleeping in the office for about 3 days, busy putting his papers together to enable him close a massive business deal, which he eventually got, after fighting like a lion whose cub was taken by a lone leopard!
LSE overwhelmed every opposition. He fought like Mohammed Alli, the world’s greatest boxer of all time. LSE won.
And that changed everything for him, too, forever. Fortune favours the Brave
Our conversation that day went like this:
LSE: Tim, congrats you are doing well, I can see. Indeed I instructed all my staff to make sure they read any article you published (“I felt flattered”).
Tim: Chairman, I need your help, KONGA is not ready to give me the products I needed on credit and I don’t have cash to pay and the client will not pay me until after 9 months.
Tough one, indeed.
LSE: Tim, I will be honest with you, there is no way KONGA would give you products worth N500M (10 years ago money!) on credit.
Indeed, we held a meeting on Monday over your matter, the resolution of the Zinox Group is that you must look for cash before you can get the products. Let me tell you, my staff made me to sign-off on our resolution that as the Chairman of Zinox , I, LSE will not go behind to do the opposite of what we all agreed to, and I signed. Tim, I am sorry, my hands are tied!
As of that time, some of the young people LSE helped disappointed him badly. So bad, some souls are ungrateful.
Tim: Chairman, I know some of the people you helped even went to the extent of wrongfully blackmailing you in the media. I know that for a fact.
But Chairman, I am different. I am Tim Akano, I won’t disappoint you.
I will remain eternally grateful if you can still think out- of -the box and help me out.
I added: Chairman, you recall you were the one who looked for me that you would give me a helping hand in life.
I think my last statement touched him.
LSE Tim, I will give you my personal cheque. Here is the cheque for you, take it to KONGA and pay for your goods to meet your deadline.
Tim On getting to KONGA, from my steps and tone, the staff knew something positive had happened.
I confidently presented my cheque to Loretta & Co, the lady managing our account in KONGA then
They were shell shocked that God pulled it through for me another time, using Leo Stan Ekeh.
There were many more positive interventions, which I will reserve for my memoir.
Lessons: The reason behind the rise and rise of Leo Stan Ekeh (LSE) has to do partly because of his massive generosity, most of them are done silently.
Yes, LSE is a shrewd businessman, but he has a heart of a butterfly.
2 LSE is unconquerable and himself and his lineage will remain so because of several lives he has impacted positively
3 We are all products of people’s generosity. No one is a self-made man. In my own corner, through the TIM AKANO FOUNDATION, I am giving back in thousands folds all the kindness I am enjoying from people like LSE & others. I’m not withholding any kindness from people who need it when it’s within my capacity. God saw my heart, too, that when he must have helped me to stand, I will light thousands of candles.
It was William Shakespeare who admonished his followers to tell him all the good things they wanted to tell him while he was still alive because tributes written in beautiful prose means nothing to a dead person.
I congratulate LSE children, they have a great father in and his legendary generosity will always speak for them up to the 4th generation., as the Holy Bible said. LSE children should be proud of their father, he is a Lion, an Eagle and a butterfly, (LEB) all together at the same time.
@LSE: Sir, if you manage to read this short public appreciation, which I was inspired to write in a wedding event (the couple is taking over one hour to come out, instead of joining people who are anxious, I decided to use my idle time to pay you this tribute today), I want you to feel proud of yourself; what you have achieved will take an average person 10 lifetimes to achieve.
Your positive numerous interventions in my entrepreneurship journey have germinated and I am also touching lives- like you- in thousands across Africa, not only in Nigeria, especially with regards to Youth Empowerment.
I am eternally grateful, my chairman, my destiny-helper.
My prayer for you my Chairman, LSE: The Lion, the Eagle, the Butterfly (LEB) is for God to keep you continuously in sound, divine health, peace and happiness- that you will still remain strong at 120 years of age like the Biblical Moses who miraculously escaped physical depreciation in his eyes, strength and mental magnitude.🙏
Gratitude!
Gratitude!!
Gratitude!!!
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has clinched three prestigious Service Compact with All Nigerians (SERVICOM) awards at the annual Ministry, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) Awards ceremony, earning acclaim for its outstanding citizen-centred service delivery.
NITDA
The honours spotlight NITDA’s leadership in digital transformation and efficient public service, as evaluated by SERVICOM on key benchmarks of timeliness, transparency, and customer satisfaction.
NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, received a personal commendation plaque during the event, recognising his unwavering support and commitment to prioritising citizens in agency operations.
The agency also secured a Special Recognition Award from the SERVICOM Office, celebrating its sustained initiatives to bridge government and citizens through high-quality service delivery.
In a further mark of excellence, NITDA was named the 2nd Best Performing Public Service Unit (PSU) Team B within the competitive MDAs category.
SERVICOM Framework Drives Public Service Reforms
SERVICOM, established to enhance service quality across Nigerian public institutions, assesses MDAs based on rigorous standards that ensure responsiveness to public needs.
NITDA’s triple honours reflect its strategic focus on leveraging technology to streamline services, foster accountability, and promote inclusive digital governance.
The awards align with broader federal efforts to reposition public service delivery amid Nigeria’s push for digital economy growth.
NITDA’s Digital Leadership Under Spotlight
Since its establishment, NITDA has spearheaded national ICT policies, infrastructure development, and capacity building, positioning Nigeria as an emerging digital hub.
The agency’s SERVICOM success underscores effective implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020-2030), enhancing e-government services and citizen engagement.
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi’s leadership has been pivotal in initiatives like the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, alongside partnerships driving broadband expansion and cybersecurity.
These recognitions come amid NITDA’s ongoing campaigns for data localisation, digital skills training, and startup ecosystem support.
Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has secured enforceable compliance from Ikeja Electric Plc, leading to the unsealing of the electricity distributor’s headquarters after regulatory intervention over consumer rights violations.
Ikeja Electric
The Commission had sealed the company’s headquarters on December 11, 2025, following its failure to comply with a directive of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to unbundle a Maximum Demand account into 20 individual accounts for a customer who had remained without electricity for more than two and a half years.
Following the enforcement action, Ikeja Electric entered into a binding undertaking with the FCCPC, committing to resolve all consumer complaints referred to it by the Commission within agreed timelines.
The FCCPC warned that any breach of the undertaking would trigger renewed and escalated enforcement under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA).
The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, Mr. Tunji Bello, said the intervention underscores the Commission’s resolve to protect consumers and enforce regulatory decisions.
“Our responsibility is to ensure that consumers are treated fairly and that service providers comply with lawful decisions and directives. Enforcement is not an end in itself. Where compliance is achieved and credible commitments are made, the Commission will respond appropriately,” Bello said.
He added that the resolution reflects a firm but balanced regulatory approach.
“We intervene decisively where consumer harm persists, and we de-escalate where enforceable compliance is secured. What remains constant is our duty to protect consumers and uphold regulatory accountability,” he said.
The FCCPC said the outcome sends a clear signal that consumer rights violations will attract decisive regulatory action, while companies that demonstrate genuine compliance will receive proportionate responses.
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