February 2, 2024
The Anambra State Government has passed a law prohibiting the depositing of corpses in the mortuary or any other place beyond two months from the date of death.
The law was enacted by the Anambra State House of Assembly to control burial and funeral ceremony activities in the state.
Anambra State governor Chukwuma Soludo commended the assembly for the legislation.
“Anambra Burial Law is a very Progressive law to remove the burden and pressure on the poor as well as liberate women from oppressive practices during burials,” Soludo said.
“We celebrate “befitting living” and only a decent funeral.”
By this law, all mortuary attendants are to report to the Ministry of Health of any corpse which has stayed beyond one month from the date it was deposited.
It warned that any person who contravenes the provisions will be fined N100,000 or six months imprisonment or both.
According to the new law, there shall be no public display of caskets for fabrication and sale.
They state that whoever is found guilty will pay a fine of N50,000 or one-month imprisonment or both. Also, the law looked into the registration of burial and funeral ceremonies.
It stipulated that all burial and funeral ceremonies of indigenous deceased persons in the state shall be registered with the town union of the indigenous deceased person.
Also, the registration fee for each burial and funeral ceremony shall be N 1,500.
Also, the new law warned against the blocking of roads and streets during burial ceremonies.
It advised that this can only be done with permission from the appropriate Local Government Authority.
February 2, 2024
As the stage is set for tomorrow’s by-elections into the Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly seats across 26 states.
Already, sensitive materials have been distributed to the affected polling districts and constituencies by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
However, the commission said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not participate in the election in Plateau North Senatorial District and Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency, based on the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
The court had nullified the victory of PDP House of Assembly members in the state, following the party’s failure to conduct its Congresses according to laid down rules.
However, barely 24 hours to the exercise, INEC has confirmedn that the PDP will not participate in the exercise in Plateau North Senatorial District and Jos North/ Bassa Federal Constituency.
There were also indications that security agencies have placed Plateau State under watch for the poll while all the parties have been advised to respect the judgment of the Appeal Court on the previous polls in the district and federal constituency.
Following the fate that befell the PDP, the senatorial by-election may be a stiff contest between Chris Giwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Gyang Zi of the Labour Party (LP).
Sources said PDP members may vote for the LP in protest against the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
The appellate court had sacked a former Senate Minority Leader, Simon Mwadkwon, who was declared winner of February 25, 2023 poll by INEC.
Also, the Court of Appeal invalidated INEC’s declaration of Musa Avia-Agah as winner of the Jos North/ Bassa Federal Constituency.
Although 11 parties have been cleared by the electoral commission for the poll, the battle may be between the APC and the LP.
A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “Having considered legal advice, INEC has dropped PDP from the ballot in deference to the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which is the final arbiter on disputes from National Assembly poll.
“The appellate court said Mwadkwon was not validly nominated by the PDP for the election because 12 Local Government Areas (LGAs) did not participate in the congress that elected him as candidate of the party for the election.
“INEC cannot afford to be lawless. Apart from court pronouncement, INEC is not part of any political compromise. Even when INEC met with the leadership of PDP on January 8, 2024, it made it clear that the party will be excluded from the poll. We are standing by this decision.
“Even this week, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja struck out an application for an order of Mandamus by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to compel INEC to allow it and its candidates to participate in the 3rd February 2024. The judge said the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain election matters, and the applicants did not follow the due process of the law to initiate the matter.”
It was gathered that security agencies have advised all the parties in the state to respect the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
Another source said: “As for Saturday by-elections, security agencies have keen interest on the development in Plateau State. We will ensure that all the parties comply with the judgment of the court.
“We have also advised the stakeholders in the state, especially political parties, to comply with the decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court. Any unlawful action will amount to a breach of the security.”
Apart from Plateau and Ebonyi, states where the rerun will hold are Yobe, Kebbi, Lagos, Ondo, Taraba, Benue, Borno, Kaduna, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, and Cross River.
Others are Delta, Enugu, Jigawa, Katsina, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Kano, Nasarawa, Niger, Oyo, Sokoto, and Zamfara.
February 2, 2024
The mechanical completion of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company; WRPC is set for completion in the first quarter of 2024, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has said.
WRPC, located in Warri, Delta State was established in 1978, as one of Nigeria’s three refineries under the management of the then NNPC.
The Warri refinery is a complex conversion refinery with a capacity to refine 125,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The facility includes a petrochemical plant (established in 1988) producing polypropylene and carbon black.
It has not been producing refined products due to the rehabilitation of the facility by the Federal Government.
the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, had stated on Wednesday that the Warri refinery was still being worked on.
He disclosed this while responding to a question about the Port Harcourt refinery, whose mechanical completion was widely celebrated on December 21, 2023 by the Federal Government.
January 31, 2024
The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the duly elected Governor of Adamawa state.
In a judgment delivered today; Wednesday 31, January, a five-member panel of the apex court unanimously dismissed the appeal by Aishatu Ahmed Dahiru, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last governorship election in the state.
In the lead judgment, Justice John Okoro, who presided over the panel, held that the declaration of Dahiru winner of the election by the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) was unlawful and a nullity.
Justice Okoro further held that it was the Returning Officer of any election that is empowered by the Electoral Act to announce the results of an election and that any other person, who assumes that rules, acts illegally .
He also held that the appellants (Dahiru and the APC) failed to provide credible evidence to show that their claim of non-compliance with the relevant laws and that he won the election with majority of lawful votes cast during the election.
