Oriontimes

Governor Ademola Adeleke has affirmed that local government election scheduled for tomorrow is holding unfailingly under the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC), Oriontimes reports. The Governor made the assertion this morning while receiving a delegation of civil society coalition who are in the state to monitor the local government elections. According to the Governor, Osun voters are prepared to exercise their voting rights on Saturday even as he expressed satisfaction with the level of preparation by the electoral body. “I welcome you all to Osun state. Our people are prepared for elections tomorrow. They yearn to have their choices as chairmen and councillors. “OSSIEC has also done marvelous preparatory job according to reports at my disposal. Several political parties are participating and I believe there will be a level playing ground for all to test their popularity with the masses”, the Governor told the visiting activists. On controversy over the el...

Hamas handed over yesterday what it said were the remains of four Israelis abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Among them were Shiri Bibas and her two young children, Ariel and Kfir, the militant group said. Early this morning, however, the Israeli military said that genetic testing had revealed that the body that was purported to be Shiri Bibas’s was not, and that it, in fact, wasn’t that of any hostage. This was a “violation of the utmost severity” of the ongoing cease-fire, a military spokesperson said. The claim has thrown the truce’s next steps into doubt, even as Hamas is expected tomorrow to free the last six living hostages covered in the first phase of the cease-fire, in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners. ‘Abhorrent and cruel’: In the handover, four coffins were placed on a stage in front of a cartoonish picture of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, as triumphant music played. A poster threatened that if Israel resumed the war, more hostages woul...

Governor Ademola Adeleke has ordered restriction of vehicular movement from 5am to 5pm on Saturday 22nd February 2022 across Osun state. The directive of the State Governor was sequel to the statewide local government elections that are scheduled to be held tomorrow across the state. Governor Adeleke who reiterated his commitment to peace and security said the movement restriction is necessary to prevent importation of hoodlums into the state amidst local elections. He therefore directed security agencies to enforce the restriction and only allow voters and accredited media and civil society organizations for the continued peace and security of Osun state.

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun state has tasked politicians to abide by the rule of law even as he urged voters to peacefully exercise their rights at the Saturday local government elections. In a statewide broadcast today from Osogbo, the State Governor declared that peace has returned to the state after recent face-off which was a result of the illegal forceful takeover of Osun State local government secretariats by the court-sacked APC chairmen and Councilors, declaring that “Osun State is back to normalcy as one of the most peaceful states in the federation”. The governor who consoled the families and friends of those who lost their lives and those who sustained injuries in the illegal take-over of the local government secretariats by the court-sacked APC chairmen and councilors said “the unfortunate incident reminds us that abiding by the rule of law remains the best path for a peaceful Osun State. “I particularly appreciate and commend our people for complying with my d...

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President Trump yesterday called Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, a “dictator” who had taken money from the U.S. to go to war with Russia. In a social media post littered with falsehoods, Trump didn’t mention President Vladimir Putin, or that Russia had seized some Ukrainian territory in 2014 before its full-scale invasion in 2022. Trump also suggested that the future security of Ukraine would not be an American problem. “This War is far more important to Europe than it is to us,” he wrote on Truth Social. “We have a big, beautiful Ocean as separation.” The feud began after White House and Kremlin officials in Saudi Arabia began peace talks that excluded Ukraine. After that meeting on Tuesday, Trump suggested that Ukraine had started the war. Afterward, Zelensky said Trump had been “caught in a web of disinformation.” E.U.: Leaders met yesterday for a second emergency meeting seeking to recalibrate relations with the U.S. as Trump moved closer to Russia.

Envoys from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are ready to meet in Saudi Arabia tomorrow, and again in Cairo next month, to start fleshing out a postwar plan for Gaza, NYT leanrt. According to their vision, Arab countries would help fund and oversee the reconstruction of the enclave while keeping residents in place and preserving the possibility of a Palestinian state. But the hindrances to these ideas are as old as the ideas themselves — Israeli leaders oppose postwar plans that would pave the way to Palestinian sovereignty, and Arab leaders will support only a framework that at least nominally forges a path toward Palestinian statehood. Egypt is likely to propose a committee of Palestinian technocrats and community leaders, all unaffiliated with Hamas, who could run Gaza after the war, according to two Arab diplomats and two Western officials.

In the fray of illegal occupation of local governments in Osun state, Governor Ademola Adeleke today met top British diplomats and indicted the Inspector of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun of executing and imposing illegality on local councils in the state. “It is unfortunate and a disservice to democracy that the Inspector General of Police is colluding with the APC to enforce a non-existing court order. This is a serious threat to democracy in Nigeria”, the Governor told the British diplomats led by the Deputy High Commissioner, Mr Jonny Baxter. Governor Adeleke who reaffirmed his readiness for peace, free and fair elections on Saturday said Osun, a peaceful state, faces combined assault of security forces who rather than protect rule of law are busy aiding and abetting violations of the democratic process. “You are in my state at a critical juncture in our political life. We face existential threat to our democratic life from those who should protect democracy. We have made the ...

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president, was charged with overseeing a vast scheme to hold on to power after he lost the 2022 election. A total of 34 people, including Bolsonaro, were indicted over crimes against democracy. The charges essentially accepted recommendations from Brazil’s federal police in November. The case will now go before Brazil’s Supreme Court, which will analyze the charges and decide whether to order Bolsonaro’s arrest and have him face trial.

China struck back yesterday against President Trump’s 10 percent tariffs on all Chinese products with tariffs of its own on U.S. coal and gas, as well as restrictions on exports of some minerals. The measures will take effect on Monday, according to the Chinese government, meaning there is still time for negotiations. The White House press secretary said a call between Trump and China’s leader, Xi Jinping, would happen soon. China’s tariffs would cover about $20 billion of U.S. exports, compared with Trump’s tariffs on more than $450 billion of Chinese goods, economists estimated. The Chinese authorities also started an antitrust investigation into Google.

At least 10 people were killed and a number of others were injured yesterday in a shooting at a center for adult education in Orebro, Sweden, the authorities said. The suspect, who was not immediately identified, was among the dead. “We have seen a brutal act of violence,” Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said in a televised address. “This is the worst mass shooting in Swedish history.” Shootings are rare in Swedish schools, but the country has been dealing with a steady surge in gun violence.