The Independent National Electoral Commission has after a meeting on friday rescheduled the general elections exoected to hold today the 16 February 2019.

The presidential and National Assembly elections will now hold on the Saturday 23 February 2019 while thos of the Governorship, State Houses of Assembly and FCT Area council will now hold on the Saturday 9 March 2019.

(a passionate plea by Sylvester Udemezue)

I hereby personally and passionately appeal to all Nigerians who are eligible to please go out en masse on Saturday, 16 February 2019 and vote for ANY candidates of their choice in the Presidential and National Assembly elections. I beg you all to let no one deceive or scare you away from voting in the 2019 elections. It is your right to vote; but you have a duty to exercise it, in the best interest of your country. It is irrational, thoughtless and retrogressive for anyone to still think in this 21st century, that “votes do not count” or that “votes would not count.” If your votes truly do not count, the incumbent in Nigeria would not have been voted out in 2015. Further, a few months ago, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the opposition presidential candidate roundly defeated the incumbent. If votes didn’t count in that election, this would not have happened. I referred to these two recent examples ONLY for the sole purpose of demonstrating to Nigerian citizens that votes cast in elections indeed do count. I therefore strongly believe that these 2019 elections in Nigeria, citizens’ votes would certainly count. Our leaders have assured us that the elections would be peaceful and violence-free. Our leaders and the electoral umpire have assured us that the elections would be free, fair and peaceful. So, please be a good Nigerian; go out and cast your vote.

Your vote is your power; you have a responsibility to exercise it. Even if you’re not a politician, you have a duty to vote in order to determine who leads you. Any man or woman who refuses to vote has no protection against bad governance; he is bound by the outcome of the elections. The ignorance of one voter endangers the security and welfare of all others. As Plato once warned, if you refuse to vote or participate in an election, you would be condemned to being governed by your inferiors and by people who are incompetent. The era of “I would not bother voting, because I know my votes would not count” has become a thing of the past. I therefore beg you all, do not be left out; go out and vote. I repeat, votes now count!

Do not cause problems for yourself; because if you don’t vote, you would die complaining and lamenting, and your complaint and lamentations would have no meaning and would not make any impact unless you behave wisely now. Please, be bold, be a good Nigerian, go out to participate and cast your vote, in order to have a say on who governs you. Your vote is never lost, says John Quincy Adams. To be undecided in this elect​ion is to pause​ for a moment and then ask how the chick​en is cooked (David Sedaris). Elections are about the future.  It is your future. Stop staying at home on election day. Go out and vote!   Vote!

Memory Verses
George Jean Nathan: “Bad leaders are elected by good citizens who don’t vote.”
Susan B. Anthony: “Someone struggled for your right to vote. Please, use it.”
Larry Sabato: “The result of every election is determined by people who show up to vote.”
Thomas Jefferson: “We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate and vote.”
Plato: “A major penalty for refusing to participate [and vote]
is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”
George Carlin: “If you don’t vote, you lose the right to complain [afterwards].”

I wish Nigeria a free, fair, peaceful and successful Presidential and National Assembly Elections. May God help Nigeria; may we come out of this stronger. Amen!! 
Respectfully, 
Sylvester Udemezue
(udems)
(15/02/2019)

The suspend Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen has arrived at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for his arraignment.

Continue reading Just in- Nigeria’s Chief Justice arrives court for arraignment →

The chief executive officer of telecoms group MTN Uganda, a unit of South Africa’s MTN Group, has been deported from the East African country over national security concerns, Ugandan police said on Friday.

The development is the latest headache for the largest telecommunications firm in Uganda after three senior executives were deported last month, accused of planning to compromise national security.Police spokesman Fred Enanga told Reuters Wim Vanhelleputte had been deported and was “destined for Belgium around midnight (Thursday) over … circumstances of national security.”

Continue reading MTN Uganda CEO deported over national security – police →

Police are investigating the killing of a 63-year-old man and his 32-year-old daughter who were found murdered on Wednesday morning at Rongai, Nakuru County.

The attackers also defiled the woman’s 10-year-old daughter.
The man lived alone with the daughter and granddaughter after the death of his wife.
Rongai police boss Japheth Kioko said the suspects gained access to the house after cutting the metal grills on a window.

He said the house appeared ransacked with documents strewn on the floor, indicating that the assailants may have been searching for money or documents.
“They had frisked every drawer and cabinets leaving documents all over the house. We are not sure what the motive of the attack was but they appear to have been in search for something from the family,” said Kioko.

Rongai Deputy County Commissioner Julius Kavita called on the residents to assist the police in the investigations.
The 10 year-old who was defiled has been admitted to a hospital in Nakuru.
The killing comes barely a year after the death of the man’s wife after a short illness.

Friends and relatives are still puzzled by the killing, saying no cries for help were heard from the house. They called on the police to intensify security in the area, citing rising cases of defilement and robberies.

The Standard.