Yiaga Africa, a civil society organisation (CSO), says the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) missed an opportunity to rebuild citizens’ trust in Nigeria’s electoral process.

On Saturday, off-season polls took place in Bayelsa, Kogi, and Imo states.

Briefing journalists in Abuja on Monday, Samson Itodo, Yiaga’s executive director, said: “These off-cycle elections were to test the commitment of key democratic institutions such as INEC, security agencies and the executive to restore public confidence in the electoral process”.

“Yiaga Africa is concerned about the continuous decline in the quality of our elections and the penchant to lower the integrity standards of our elections irrespective of reforms introduced by INEC and progress made in reforming our election legal framework,” Itodo said.

“The November 11 elections were another missed opportunity to rebuild trust and confidence in the electoral process.

“The elections question the commitment of democratic institutions such as INEC, political parties and other state institutions to electoral integrity and credible elections.

“The elections in Kogi and Imo reaffirm the lack of commitment to democratic principles and credible elections on the part of electoral stakeholders. 

“The zero-sum attitude to electoral politics undermines electoral integrity and citizens’ right to elect leaders.”

The CSO questioned the transparency of the election in Imo adding that elections were not held in several polling units across different LGAs in the state including nine polling units in Orsu, eight in Okigwe, eight in Oru East, seven in Orlu, one polling unit each in Ideato North, Ikeduru, Oru West and Owerri West LGAs.

“Yiaga Africa urgently calls on INEC to review and conduct a comprehensive audit of the Imo governorship election results to inspire confidence in the process and its outcome,” the statement reads.

Itodo also said reports received from Yiaga’s observers “revealed that INEC polling officials were unprofessional and partisan in over 15% and 14% of polling units in Imo and Kogi states, respectively”.

He added that “Yiaga Africa verified 101 critical incidents witnessed by WatchingTheVote citizen observers. Eighty-seven (87) of these reports were received from Imo and 14 of the reports were received from Kogi”.

However, Yiaga commended INEC for improvements in the management of election logistics across the three states.

“The commission’s prompt response to the report of cases of pre-filled results sheets (EC8A) in Kogi state was equally impressive,” the statement reads. 

“Yiaga Africa hopes the commission will fulfil its commitment to ensuring the culprits face the full wrath of the law.

“Yiaga Africa also observed a reduction in cases of election day-related violence and commends the efforts of the police and other security agencies. 

“However, Yiaga Africa hopes all reports of election offences, compromise and unprofessional conduct of some police officers are duly investigated and culprits properly punished.”

The Cable

Israel says Hamas is using Gaza's biggest hospital for cover. Hundreds of people are trapped inside

Gaza’s Shifa Hospital has become the focus of a dayslong stalemate in Israel’s war against the Hamas militant group.

Shifa is Gaza’s largest and best-equipped hospital. But Israel claims the facility also is used by Hamas for military purposes. It says Hamas has built a vast underground command complex center below the hospital, connected by tunnels.

Since Israel declared war against Hamas in response to a bloody cross-border attack by the Islamic group on Oct. 7, its forces have moved in on Shifa. While Israel says it is willing to allow staff and patients to evacuate, Palestinians say Israeli forces have fired at evacuees and that it is too dangerous to move the most vulnerable patients. Meanwhile, doctors say the facility has run out of fuel and that patients are beginning to die.

Here is a closer look at the Shifa standoff.

A HOSPITAL AND A SHELTER

Shifa is the leading hospital in a health care system that has largely collapsed after years of conflict, chronic underfunding and an Israeli-Egyptian blockade aimed at weakening Hamas.

Shifa boasts over 500 beds and services like MRI scans, dialysis and an intensive care unit. It conducts roughly half of all the medical operations that take place in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

After the war erupted, tens of thousands crammed into the hospital grounds to seek shelter. As the war has moved closer to the hospital, most of those huddling there have fled south — joining some two-thirds of the territory’s 2.3 million residents who have left their homes.

But hundreds of people, including medical workers, premature babies and other vulnerable patients, remain, staffers say.

On Saturday, the hospital announced that it had run out of fuel. Health officials say at least 32 patients, including three babies, have died. They say 36 other babies are at risk of dying because life-saving equipment can’t function.

The Health Ministry released a photo Monday showing about a dozen premature babies wrapped in blankets on a bed to keep them warm. “I hope that they will remain alive despite the disaster in which this hospital is passing through,” said ministry spokesman Medhat Abbas.

International law gives hospitals special protections during war. But hospitals can lose those protections if combatants use them to hide fighters or store weapons, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Still, there must be plenty of warning to allow evacuation of staff and patients. If harm to civilians from an attack is disproportionate to the military objective, it is illegal under international law.

ISRAEL’S CASE AGAINST HAMAS

Israel has long accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields. The group often fires rockets toward Israel from crowded residential areas, and its fighters have battled Israeli troops inside densely populated neighborhoods.

Throughout the war, Israel has released photos and video footage showing what it says are weapons and other military installations inside or next to mosques, schools and hospitals.

Late Monday, Israel’s chief military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, showed footage of what he said was a Hamas weapons cache found in the basement of Gaza’s Rantisi Hospital for Children.

Hagari said he entered the hospital with Israeli troops on Monday, a day after the facility’s last patients were evacuated. The hospital ran out of fuel last week, and Israel had ordered people to leave as it conducts its ground offensive.

Hagari entered a room decorated with a colorful children’s drawing of a tree, with weapons lying across the floor. He said they included explosive vests, automatic rifles, bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.

“Hamas uses hospitals as an instrument of war,” he said.

He showed another area that he said appears to have been used to hold hostages.

It included what appeared to be a hastily installed toilet and air vent, a baby bottle and a motorcycle — scarred by a bullet hole and apparently used to carry hostages. One windowless room had curtains on the wall that he said could be used as a backdrop in a video. Hagari said forensic experts were examining the scenes.

“This is not the last hospital like this in Gaza, and the world should know that,” Hagari said.

The army has claimed that Hamas is operating inside Shifa and underneath it in bunkers, some of which it says are accessible from the hospital itself. It also claims hundreds of Hamas fighters sought shelter at Shifa after the Oct. 7 massacre, in which at least 1,200 people in Israel were killed.

Israel says these claims are based on intelligence. However, it has released little evidence to support the claims. Hagari last month unveiled maps showing where Israel believes Hamas’ underground command centers are located, including one next to hospital’s reception area and another next to the dialysis department.

He also showed off simulated illustrations of what these centers allegedly look like, but acknowledged: “This is only an illustration.”

Other Israeli evidence has been equally difficult to verify.

Israel released a video of what it said was a captured militant answering questions during an interrogation. The militant, speaking quietly but clearly under duress, says that most tunnels are “hidden in hospitals.”

“At Shifa, for example, there are underground levels,” the militant says. “Shifa is not small. It’s a big place that can hide things.”

The army also released a voice recording of what it says are two anonymous Palestinians in Gaza discussing the presence of a tunnel under Shifa. The recording could not be verified.

Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, rejected the Israeli claims about Shifa as “false and misleading propaganda.”

“The occupying forces have no evidence to prove it,” Hamad said. “We have never used civilians as human shields because it goes against our religion, morality and principles.”

HOW WILL THE STANDOFF END?

Israel on Sunday said it had tried to deliver some 300 liters (about 80 gallons) of fuel to the hospital in plastic containers several hundred meters (yards) from the facility. But as of Monday, the fuel had apparently not been taken.

Israel accused Hamas of preventing medical workers from retrieving the containers. Hospital officials said the fuel should be delivered by the Palestinian Red Crescent and that the quantity of fuel was insufficient in any case.

Israel offered safe passage for people to leave. But those who tried to go described a terrifying experience.

Goudhat Samy al-Madhoun, a health care worker, said some 50 people left the facility on Monday, including a woman who had been receiving kidney dialysis. He said Israeli forces fired on the group several times, wounding one man who had to be left behind.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday said the hospital “must be protected” and called for “less intrusive action” by Israeli forces.

“It is my hope and expectation that there will be less intrusive action,” Biden said in the Oval Office.

The Israeli army has said it is aware of the complexities, but says Hamas should not expect immunity.

“We’re not looking to take control of hospitals. We’re looking to dismantle their infrastructure,” said Richard Hecht, another Israeli army spokesman.

“We’ll go in, we’ll do what we have to do and leave,” he said. “What it’s going to look like, it’s hard to say.”

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine says Russians intensify bombardment of Avdiivka

Fighting gripped the area around the shattered eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, Ukraine's military said on Monday, with Moscow's forces intensifying air bombardments and trying to move forward with ground forces.

Officials said Russian forces had suffered heavy losses around the city. They also said Ukrainian forces had repelled Russian attacks in other areas of the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line.

And with Ukraine engaged in a counteroffensive making only incremental gains in the east and south, its commander in chief spoke to the new U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff.

Russia has focused on eastern Ukraine since failing to advance on Kyiv in the early days of the 20-month-old war and in mid-October launched a push to seize Avdiivka -- 20 km (12 miles) from the Russian-held city of Donetsk.

"Fighting is still going on. Over the last two days, the occupiers have increased the number of air strikes using guided bombs from Su-35 aircraft," Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun told national television.

"The enemy is also bringing in more and more infantry. But when they tried to deploy armoured vehicles the day before yesterday two tanks and 14 other vehicles were burned out."

Ukrainian forces, he said, had repelled eight attacks in the past 24 hours on the city, known for its vast coking plant.

Vitaliy Barabash, head of Avdiivka's military administration said Russian forces, told the state news agency Ukrinform that Russian losses in the current drive on the city stood at minimum 3,000-4,000 dead and a further 7,000-8,000 wounded.

He said "not a single building" was intact in the city, with just over 1,500 of its pre-war population of 32,000 remaining and evacuations proceeding. The hospital was functioning under constant shelling and a single shop was open.

"Quite simply, Avdiivka and its strategic position is geographically located on heights and you can see Donetsk...from here," Barabash said. "And that's what they need it."

Ukraine's General Staff, in its evening report, said its forces had repelled 15 Russian attacks near the long-contested town of Maryinka, east of Avdiivka, as well as 11 near Bakhmut to the northeast and six near Kupiansk, in Ukraine's northeast.

Russian accounts said Moscow's forces had repulsed five Ukrainian attempts to advance on villages outside Bakhmut, a town captured by Russian troops in May after months of fighting.

Ukrainian Commander-in-chief, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, said he had discussed the "hottest sectors" of the front line with Charles Brown, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff.

Zaluzhnyi this month said the war was entering a phase of attrition, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to dismiss any notion that the conflict was headed towards stalemate.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Republican objections complicating Ukraine aid – White House

The refusal by Republicans in Congress to pass President Joe Biden’s omnibus funding bill has already impacted Washington’s ability to send more military aid to Ukraine, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Monday.

Last month, the White House asked Congress for a $106 billion supplemental funding request, bundling the Ukraine funding with aid to Israel and Taiwan, among other things. The Republican-majority House has since passed only a $14 billion bill for aid to Israel, which was blocked by the Democrat-controlled Senate last week.

“This is already affecting our ability to give Ukraine what they need, and this effect will only get worse,” Sullivan told reporters at the White House press briefing.

The White House began complaining that the funds appropriate for Ukraine were running on empty at the start of the month. Last week, USAID informed Congress that its own budget for Kiev had run dry. On Friday, the Pentagon said it had only $1 billion left in congressionally approved funding.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Congress last month that without continued US funding, Russia will “only get stronger.” Visiting Washington in September, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky had been more blunt, saying that if the US does not send more money, “we will lose.”

Biden has repeatedly promised to fund Ukraine for “as long as it takes” to defeat Russia, while insisting the US and its allies were not directly involved in the conflict. Congress has passed four Ukraine aid bills, to the tune of $113 billion, since Moscow launched its military operation in the neighboring state in February 2022. By the Pentagon’s own estimates, $43.9 billion of that went to security assistance to Kiev. 

What changed in early October was the ouster of the Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy – reportedly over striking a secret Ukraine funding deal with the White House – and the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, which has commanded all the attention of the US public and politicians alike.

The new speaker, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, has proposed averting a November 17 government shutdown by passing several different bills, funding some parts of government operations through January 19 and others through February 2. There was no mention of any money allocated to Ukraine, however.

Reuters/RT

The crises, conflicts, and wars that are currently raging highlight just how profoundly the geopolitical landscape has changed in recent years, as great-power rivalries have again become central to international relations. With the wars in Gaza and Ukraine exacerbating global divisions, an even more profound geopolitical reconfiguration – including a shift to a new world order – may well be in the works.

These two wars heighten the risk of a third, over Taiwan. No one – least of all Chinese President Xi Jinping – can watch the United States transfer huge amounts of American artillery munitions, smart bombs, missiles, and other weaponry to Ukraine and Israel without recognizing that American stockpiles are being depleted. For Xi, who has called Taiwan’s incorporation into the People’s Republic a “historic mission,” the longer these wars continue, the better.

US President Joe Biden understands the stakes and is now seeking to defuse tensions with China. Notably, after sending a string of cabinet officials to Beijing, Biden’s planned summit talks with Xi on the sidelines at the November 15-17 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco is set to steal the spotlight. And he and his G7 partners have stressed that they are seeking to “de-risk” their relationship with China, not “decouple” from the world’s second-largest economy.

Whatever one calls it, this process is set to reshape the global financial order, as well as investment and trade patterns. Already, trade and investment flows are changing in ways that suggest that the global economy may be split into two blocs; for example, China now trades morewith the Global South than with the West. Despite the high costs of economic fragmentation, China, seeking to reduce its vulnerability to future pressure, has been quietly decoupling large sections of its economy from the West.

In no small part, the US has itself to blame for the current situation. By actively facilitating China’s economic rise for four decades, it helped to create the greatest rival it has ever faced. Today, China boasts the world’s largest navy and coast guard, and is overtly challenging Western dominance over the global financial system and in international institutions. In fact, China is working hard to build an alternative world order, with itself at the center.

Though the current system is often referred to in neutral-sounding terms such as the “rules-based global order,” it is undoubtedly centered on the US. Not only did the US largely make the rules on which that order is based; it also seems to believe itself exempt from key rules and norms, such as those prohibiting interference in other countries’ internal affairs. International law is powerful against the powerless, but powerless against the powerful.

When it comes to creating an alternative world order, the current conflict-ridden global environment may well work in China’s favor. After all, it was war that gave rise to the US-led global order, including the institutions that underpin it, such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the United Nations. Even reforming these institutions meaningfully has proved very difficult during peacetime.

This is certainly true for the UN, which appears to be in irreversible decline and increasingly marginalized in international affairs. The hardening gridlock at the UN Security Council has caused more responsibility to be shifted to the UN General Assembly, which was forced, notably, to adopt a resolution on the war in Gaza calling for a “humanitarian truce” and an end to Israel’s siege. But the General Assembly is fundamentally weak, and, in contrast to the Security Council, its resolutions are not legally binding.

As US-led institutions deteriorate, so, too, does America’s authority beyond its borders. Even Israel and Ukraine – which depend on the US as their largest military, political, and economic backer – have at times spurned US advice. Israel rebuffed America’s counsel to scale back its military attacks and do more to minimize civilian casualties in an already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. US officials have blamed Ukraine’s wide dispersal of forces for its stalled counteroffensive.

Beyond the global reordering that the Sino-American rivalry appears to be causing, important regional shifts are possible. A protracted conflict in Gaza could set in motion a geopolitical reorganization in the Greater Middle East, where nearly every major power – except Egypt, Iran, and Turkey – is a twentieth-century construct created by the West (especially the British and the French). Already, Israel’s war is strengthening the geopolitical role of gas-rich Qatar, a regional gadfly that has become an international rogue elephant by funding violent jihadists, including Hamas.

If the conflict spreads beyond Gaza, the geopolitical implications would be even farther-reaching. Whatever comes next, Ukraine may well be among the biggest losers. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged, the war in Gaza already “takes away the focus” from his country’s fight against Russia at a time when Ukraine can ill afford a slowdown in Western aid.

Yet more forces and trends – including Russia’s increasingly militarized economy, China’s stalling growth, and the growing economic weight of the Global South – are making fundamental changes to the international order more likely. Meanwhile, the world is grappling with widening inequality, rising authoritarianism, the rapid development of transformative technologies like artificial intelligence, environmental degradation, and climate change.

Though the details are impossible to know, a fundamental global geopolitical rebalancing now appears all but inevitable. The specter of a sustained clash between the West and its rivals – especially China, Russia, and the Islamic world – looms large.

Project Syndicate

Managing time efficiently to stay focused, sharp, and productive is an arduous task for many entrepreneurs. It's easy to get caught up in major projects and neglect other tasks or personal time. 

To gain insight into effective productivity, here's what I found from my various interviews with busy founders and experts over the years. 

1. Schedule breaks throughout the day

One productivity mistake so many of us make is working for hours at a time, sometimes right through the lunch hour, and neglecting to take frequent breaks. 

Tony Schwartz, CEO of the Energy Project and author of The Way We're Working Isn't Working, writes in Harvard Business Review:

Our bodies send us clear signals when we need a break, including fidgetiness, hunger, drowsiness and loss of focus. But mostly, we override them. Instead, we find artificial ways to pump up our energy: caffeine, foods high in sugar and simple carbohydrates, and our body's own stress hormones.

To achieve high productivity and performance, according to Schwartz, you should work the way sprinters in track and field train. This means working with full focus and intensity during the morning hours, for 90-minute "sprints" (but not longer), before taking a proper break. 

In other words, concentrate solely on your most challenging and important task for 90 minutes at a time, then give your brain a rest and allow it to recharge. You will be able to work more efficiently and effectively when you return to your desk.

2. Schedule your to-do list items

It is important to take some time in the morning to plan out what you need to accomplish for the day. 

Cal Newport, who is a professor of computer science at Georgetown University and author of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, suggests that scheduling your to-do list items can help you be more realistic about what you can achieve. 

Otherwise, it's just a list of wishes, rather than goals that you can actually accomplish. Newport adds:

Scheduling forces you to confront the reality of how much time you actually have and how long things will take. Now that you look at the whole picture you're able to get something productive out of every free hour you have in your workday. You not only squeeze more work in but you're able to put work into places where you can do it best.

3. Turn off notifications

Managing too many notifications can be overwhelming and distract you from completing important tasks. Rather than wasting time trying to achieve inbox zero, focus on one or two pressing problems each day, and dedicate uninterrupted time to strategically dig into them. 

To avoid interruptions from email, texts, and social media notifications, consider turning off these notifications during your allotted work time. This will help you stay in the zone and accomplish more.

According to research conducted by Dscout, the average person touches their phone 2,617 times per day. Turning off notifications is a proven way to minimize distractions and be more productive.

Inc

Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party on Sunday cried foul as Governor Hope Uzodimma, candidate of the All Progressives Congress, was declared winner of Saturday’s governorship poll in Imo State by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The electoral body affirmed Uzodimma’s re-election, having won in all the 27 local government areas of the state.

The governor clinched a second term in office after scoring a total of 540,008 votes, the commission stated.

In Kogi, the candidate of the APC, Usman Ododo, was declared the winner of the election with 446,237 votes.

Announcing the result late Sunday night, the state Returning Officer, Johnson Urama, said Ododo was followed by the Social Democratic Party candidate, Muri Ajaka, who scored 259,052 votes.

Dino Melaye of the PDP garnered 46,362 votes; Leke Bejide of the African Democratic Party, 21,891; and Adejo Okeme of the LP 567.

The total number of registered voters was 1,932,474, and accredited voters numbered 794,500.

The commission said 9,601 votes were rejected out of the 791,890 total votes cast.

In Bayelsa State, the INEC said the results from Brass and Southern Ijaw local government Areas of Bayelsa would be announced on Monday (today).

Head of Department, Voter Education and Publicity INEC office, Yenagoa, Wilfred Ifogah, announced to state party agents, election observers and journalists on Sunday that the collation of results would continue today.

Announcing Uzodimma’s victory, the Imo State Returning Officer for the election, Abayomi Fasina, who is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oye, Ekiti State, disclosed that Samuel Anyanwu of the PDP got 71,503 votes while the Labour Party candidate, Athan Aconu, garnered 64,081 votes.

The PDP and LP called for a total poll cancellation after the declaration.

They alleged that the security agents connived with INEC staff to allow members of the APC to rig the election.

Addressing journalists at a press conference, Anyanwu, while demanding the nullification of the election, said  INEC and the security agents failed in their constitutional responsibility to deliver a credible election to the people of the state.

Instead, he alleged that the security agents protected INEC staff “as the APC members rewrote results.’’

Anyanwu said he and his party, the PDP, would not accept anything other than total cancellation of the poll.

LP candidate

The LP candidate, Achonu, vowed to seek redress at the election tribunal.

Addressing journalists at his Umulomo country home in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of the state on Sunday, he alleged that the election was “marred by irregularities, including vote-buying and physical assaults of LP agents, and thus deserving of outright cancellation.”

He further alleged that voting in many locations was done without the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System accreditation, contrary to the assurances by INEC before the election.

Achonu also alleged compromise on the part of the security personnel, adding that “recorded evidence abound such as that of a police officer who voters beat for attempting to snatch a ballot box.”

He commended the LP supporters for their steadfastness in the face of provocation and assured them that they would get justice at the courts.

He stated, “Our democracy was raped in the full glare of security personnel, whose salaries we pay from our commonwealth.

“Collation was suddenly moved from the ward to LG centres, and only APC agents were allowed to enter, while agents of other parties were locked out.

“And to you, my supporters, thank you for your doggedness and steadfastness; you fought hard, and I am proud of you all.

“I have not lost hope in the judiciary; there are so many men of integrity therein, and we shall reclaim our mandate.”

He condemned the assault and detention of the LP Chairman in the state, Callistus Ihejiagwa, at the state collation centre and called for the immediate arrest of those who manhandled him.

“My party chairman was beaten up at the collation centre, as is evident in a widely circulated video. And instead of arresting those who beat him, the police arrested and detained him.

“Let’s save the drift into anarchy; let’s save our country and her democracy. There was no election yesterday, and we call on the INEC Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu, to cancel the purported results,“ Achonu said.

Also, the deputy governorship candidate of the LP, Tony Nwulu, said that the security agents allegedly provided security to the INEC staff and APC members to subvert the will of the people of the state.

Speaking to journalists on Saturday night, he claimed that electoral materials had been diverted to all the LG secretariats “where rewriting of the election results were allegedly ongoing.’’

Nwulu claimed, ‘’There was no election in Imo State on Saturday. What happened was the electoral materials’ diversion to the people’s homes and the LGA council headquarters. In all this, the police, army, and DSS provided security to the actors.

“They came with vast sums of money to the polling units for votes buying, but the Imo people rejected them. They now resorted to snatching electoral materials and diverting them to the homes of individuals and the LG headquarters, where they are currently rewriting the results.

“In all these things, the police, army, and DSS are providing security to the APC members and staff of INEC in these disgraceful acts. We have all the records. We are informing Nigerians that there was no election in Imo state on Saturday.

“The position of our party and my principal, Athan Achonu, the governorship candidate of the party in Imo state, is that this sham called election be cancelled outright.”

Uzodimma’s victory

The LP chairman in the state, Callistus Ihejiagwa, said that the process that gave victory to the governor needed to be revised and fraught with electoral irregularities.

He said that from the actual results, Achonu won the election, describing the  poll as “a daylight robbery and a rape of democracy.’’

The LP chair alleged that elections didn’t take  place in most places in Orsu, Orlu, Ideato North, Okigwe, Oguta, Owerri municipal, “yet INEC in collaboration with APC and security agents wrote the results.’’

He also faulted the returning officer for failing to address his petition before collating the results and returned Uzodimma as the election winner.

Ihejiagwa said, “What happened in Imo state on Saturday was a sham. It was shameful how the security agents provided INEC staff and APC members the protection to rig the election.

“From our records, our candidate, Achonu, won the election. We will challenge Hope Uzodimma’s announcement as the election winner in court. If anybody keeps quiet, the Labour Party and our candidate won’t. We won the election. We will retrieve our mandate in court.”

Basking in the euphoria of his victory, Governor Uzodimma urged his opponents to join him in moving the state forward.

Uzodimma, who spoke in Owerri, the state capital, on Sunday, shortly after being declared the poll’s winner, said that his next four years in office would hugely benefit the state.

The governor expressed gratitude to the state’s people, the security agents and the INEC staff for their roles in ensuring a peaceful election in the state.

He specifically thanked President Bola Tinubu for supporting his re-election bid.

Uzodimma said, “I am humbled and honoured by your overwhelming support in yesterday’s election. Your trust in me to continue leading our dear State is inspiring and deeply appreciated.

“Together, we have achieved a resounding victory, and I am committed to delivering on the promises made during our campaign.

 “As we embark on the Next Level of Shared Prosperity, rest assured that your interests will remain at the forefront of my administration.

“I extend a hand to my fellow contenders from other parties, urging them to join me in a united effort to build and uplift our only dear State. In the spirit of inclusivity, we will operate a government that transcends political differences for the benefit of all.’’

Meanwhile, a female youth corps member who served as an ad hoc worker in Mbaitolu LG was reported missing, and the BVAS and results in her possession had not been recovered.

While presenting his result, the local government collation officer, Bolaji Olaleye said the youth corps member did not respond to phone calls, heightening fear that something terrible might have happened to her.

However, The PUNCH called a number given by Olaleye, but a female who answered terminated the call without responding to questions.

Olaleye told The PUNCH, “I don’t know what happened to the female corps member, but we couldn’t locate the BVAS and results sheet in her possession, which led to the cancellation of the election in ward three polling units.”

But the Kogi State chapter of the SDP called for the cancellation of the results in Okene, Okehi, Ogori Magongo, Adavi, and Ajaokuta LGs, as well as in some parts of Lokoja alleging corrupt practices, vote-buying and over-voting.

The party’s collation agent, David Edibu, submitted a petition to the State Returning Officer, Johnson Urame, who assured him the petition would be reviewed.

Corroborating Edibu, the PDP agent at the collation centre, Abubakar Mahmood, submitted that the incidences of malpractices in the said LGA were alarming.

Similarly, the PDP standard bearer in Kogi State, Dino Melaye, has called on the electoral commission to cancel the off-cycle election in the state.

Melaye, who spoke at a press conference on Sunday in Lokoja, the state capital, alleged that result sheets were manipulated before the commencement of the accreditation of voters on Saturday.

“Yesterday, there was no election in the five local governments of the central senatorial district in Kogi state. In the end, surprisingly, accreditation was done manually, the BVAS was not used,” Melaye said.

However, the APC has called on INEC to disregard calls for the cancellation of the election and should instead protect the integrity of the votes in the state.

APC Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said the party’s candidate, Ododo, was already “coasting to a spectacular victory.”

In a statement on Sunday,  Morka said the announced and uploaded results so far showed Ododo “maintaining a landslide lead in Kogi West and Central, with a competitive showing in Kogi East.”

APC warns

“We are keenly aware of intense pressure, including violent threats on INEC staff, by agents and supporters of trailing opposition parties aimed at unduly influencing or disrupting ongoing collation of results in the state.

“We urge INEC to stand fast in the discharge of its constitutional duty to deliver free, fair and credible election in the state and ensure that the freely exercised will of the Kogi electorate prevails,’’ the party spokesman stated in a statement.

In Bayelsa, hundreds of PDP supporters staged a protest in Yenagoa, the state capital, on Sunday, demanding that the results of the election conducted in Nembe-Bassambiri, Nembe LG, should not be brought to the collation centre.

The results indicated that the PDP candidate, Governor Douye Diri, had polled 137,909, the APC candidate, Timipre Sylva,  had 73,503 and LP candidate,  Udengs Eradiri, scored 703.

But the PDP supporters stormed the INEC office to protest elections in the APC strongholds, particularly the Nembe LG, where Sylva got 22,248 votes.

But the APC agent at the collation centre in Yenagoa, Dennis Otioto defended the party’s victory, adding Sylva’s agents Ofoni, and Kolokuma/Opokuma were chased away.

The PDP supporters alleged that the election did not take place in Nembe-Bassambiri and that the results from the polling units in the area were concocted.

The protesters marched towards the INEC office on Swali Road but were barred from reaching the office by security agents.

They had converged on the Isaac Boro Peace Park at Ovom on the Mbiama-Yenagoa Road at about 9.30 am before marching towards the gate of the INEC Office along the Swali Market Road.

But as the protesters approached the Swali Road from the Lambert Eradiri Road and moved past the roundabout connecting Mgbi Road, several armed security operatives mounting a checkpoint on the road stopped them from getting close to the junction leading to the INEC office entrance.

The security operatives blocked the road with Armoured Personnel Carriers and several security patrol vans while taking strategic positions around the area.

Speaking in an interview with reporters, the state Commissioner for Education, Gentle Emelah, said they embarked on the demonstration because eligible PDP voters in Nembe-Bassambiri were disenfranchised, and this was unacceptable.

He called on INEC and the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Obo Effanga, to reject the results from Nembe-Bassambiri, insisting that voting did not occur in the community.

Emelah said, “We are here to tell the world that election is not violence. Election is a serious responsibility. Everyone that is having electoral rights ought to cast his vote.

“But what is happening in Nembe-Bassambiri is not acceptable because you cannot disenfranchise eligible voters and coerce INEC to do your bid. A level playing ground should be provided to every adult of voting age to cast his or her vote.

“We know that there was no election in Nembe-Bassambiri. So, because of that, we are talking to INEC to discard that result. And if at all, let them revisit the Bassambiri issue and ensure that everybody has the right to vote.”

Also speaking, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Diriyai Dambo, described the incident in Nembe-Bassambiri as “a rape of democracy.’’

He claimed that the party’s supporters who were travelling to Nembe ahead of the governorship polls on November 10 were allegedly subjected to a life-threatening situation.

Dambo said that balloting was not conducted in Nembe-Bassambiri, particularly in constituencies 2 and 9, and that fake results were written and posted on social media.

Dambo, an indigene of Nembe, said, “If what we are here for is allowed to go on, then there will be a massive rape of democracy. We are here because we were disenfranchised in Nembe-Bassambiri, where I am from. Precisely, on the 10th of November, most of our people, with about 58 buses, left Yenagoa to Nembe with escorts.

“When we arrived, the SWAT Team was blocking the entrance to Nembe with other APC acclaimed youths. They said we should come down for a search. One of our boys, identified as Kile, came down, and they manhandled him. He escaped by the whiskers.

‘’After that, they started threatening us, up to the extent that they threw tear gas at us. They said we could not go in, to the extent that most of them were scared for their lives, so they had to leave.’’

In a worrisome development, some INEC officials have been held hostage in the Brass LG.

In a post on its X handle on Sunday, the INEC called on the police and other security operatives to investigate the situation and facilitate the release of the officials.

 The post read, “The unfolding situation in Brass Local Government Area. The Commission is closely watching the situation in Brass LG of Bayelsa State, where our officials are held hostage.

 “This is detrimental to credible elections. We call on the security agencies to immediately facilitate their release.”

A man identified as George Sibo reportedly died Sunday afternoon in Twon-Brass, the headquarters of the Brass LG, after he was attacked by a mob believed to be APC supporters.

 It was learnt that the deceased, a PDP supporter, was attacked at the governorship election collation centre at the council area headquarters when results from some wards in Constituency 2 were being submitted.

Sibo, popularly called “Kobo-Kobo”, was said to be an indigene of Twon-Brass and an aide to a politician from the local government.

A member of the state House of Assembly representing Brass Constituency 1, Daniel Charles, condemned the gruesome killing of the man.

He urged security agents to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of the dastardly act immediately.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Asinim Butswat, said he was awaiting the details of the incident from the area commander in Brass LGA.

Punch

Governorship candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi State, Murtala Ajaka, has alleged irregularities in Saturday’s election.

Ajaka said he won’t challenge the outcome of the poll in court if he loses as it would be a waste of time.

Speaking on Channels TV’s ‘The 2023 Verdict: Off-Cycle Elections,’ Ajaka had claimed that the election was rigged with the support of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“In the whole of the five local governments in central, the whole of the five local governments in central, there was no election anywhere. They wrote results. Result sheets were given to Yahaya Bello

“In Okene local government, they turned out over 130,000 votes, haba! And INEC accepted that result and what is on the BVAS is less than 30,000.

“With all due respect to the person of the INEC chairman, if they don’t do a checklist and investigate their officials that went to Kogi State and allow this to stand, I doubt if there will be election in 2027.

“Because people will go into that election armed and I fear Somalia will be a child’s play.

“If we knew it would be the same old music, we would have played along with that old music by inflating the results from my area.

“When the commission told us yesterday that they were looking into this case, we were hopeful, that is why everybody relaxed. Only for them now to collate these results. It is annoying. Three local governments are producing 230,000-something votes,” he said,

When asked why he was agitated since he had evidence to prove that the election was rigged, Ajaka said, “What am I going to court to do when the same INEC that did this is going to come as a witness to defend what they did? So it is a waste of time. Except the party people because I’m hugely disappointed. If the INEC chairman allows this to stand, they are looking for trouble in Nigeria.

“You gave me assurance that the election would be transparent, you allowed me to waste my time, spend my money, mobilise my people, only for you to write the results. Even if I’m not sad about it, you expect my supporters to be happy. I assure you if they allow this to stand as they are allowing in all the states now, they are calling for anarchy in this country.”

Meanwhile, INEC has ordered fresh elections in some wards in Kogi State as a result of irregularities.

Following some pre-filled result sheets which went into circulation while voting was ongoing, INEC had suspended elections across nine wards and said further communication would be made.

In a statement on Sunday, Mohammed Haruna, a National Commissioner, said fresh elections would hold in the affected areas.

Daily Trust

Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC Ltd said on Sunday it had restored 275,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil production at its joint venture unit with Total Energies after negotiating an end to industrial action by workers.

NNPC said in a statement that an agreement to suspend the action had been signed between TotalEnergies, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, which represent senior and junior workers in the industry.

"The unions have agreed to suspend ongoing industrial action leading to immediate restoration of 275,000 barrels of oil per day production," NNPC said.

NNPC did not disclose the nature of the dispute or the workers' demands, which had not been previously announced.

Nigeria's oil production was 1.49 million barrels per day in October, according to data from the petroleum regulator, still below the 2023 budget target of 1.69 million bpd.

Although production has been improving this year in Africa's biggest oil producer, crude theft, illegal refining and lack of investment in the sector have hobbled output, which has remained below its OPEC quota of 1.74 million bpd.

That has led to fears that NNPC may struggle to supply crude to the 650,000 bpd Dangote Refinery, which has missed several targets to start production.

NNPC Ltd will supply the Dangote refinery with up to six cargoes of crude oil in December to be used in test runs, industry sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.

Reuters

Heavy fighting rages near main Gaza hospital and people trapped inside say they cannot flee

Health officials and people trapped inside Gaza’s largest hospital rejected Israel’s claims that it was helping babies and others evacuate Sunday, saying fighting continued just outside the facility where incubators lay idle with no electricity and critical supplies were running out.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed urgent calls for a cease-fire unless it includes the release of all the nearly 240 hostages captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 rampage that triggered the war.

A day after Netanyahu said Israel was bringing its “full force” with the aim of ending Hamas’ 16-year rule in Gaza, residents reported heavy airstrikes and shelling, including around Shifa Hospital. Israel, without providing evidence, has accused Hamas of concealing a command post inside and under the compound, allegations denied by Hamas and hospital staff.

“They are outside, not far from the gates,” said Ahmed al-Boursh, a resident sheltering there.

The hospital’s last generator ran out of fuel Saturday, leading to the deaths of three premature babies and four other patients, according to the Health Ministry. It said another 36 babies are at risk of dying.

Israel’s military asserted it placed 300 liters (79 gallons) of fuel near Shifa overnight for an emergency generator powering incubators for premature babies and coordinated the delivery with hospital officials. But the military said Hamas prevented the hospital from receiving the fuel.

A Health Ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, disputed the account and also told Al Jazeera the fuel would not be enough to operate the generator an hour. “This is a mockery towards the patients and children,” Al-Qidra said.

Speaking to CNN, Netanyahu asserted that “100 or so” people had been evacuated from Shifa and that Israel had created safe corridors.

But Health Ministry Undersecretary Munir al-Boursh said Israeli snipers have deployed around Shifa, firing at any movement.

“There are wounded in the house, and we can’t reach them,” he told Al Jazeera. “We can’t stick our heads out of the window.”

The military said troops would assist in moving babies on Sunday. But Medical Aid for Palestinians, a U.K.-based charity that has supported Shifa’s neonatal intensive care unit, said transferring critically ill infants is complex. “With ambulances unable to reach the hospital ... and no hospital with capacity to receive them, there is no indication of how this can be done safely,” CEO Melanie Ward said.

The only option is for Israel to stop its assault and allow fuel into the hospital, Ward said.

The Health Ministry said there are 1,500 patients at Shifa, along with 1,500 medical personnel and between 15,000 and 20,000 people seeking shelter.

President of Doctors Without Borders International, Christos Christou, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” it would take weeks to evacuate the patients.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on the X social media platform that Shifa has been without water three days and “is not functioning as a hospital anymore.” Several humanitarian groups told The Associated Press they weren’t able to reach the hospital Sunday.

The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said another Gaza City hospital, Al-Quds, is “no longer operational” because it was out of fuel with 6,000 people trapped there. Gaza’s sole power plant shut down a month ago, and Israel has barred fuel imports to prevent Hamas from using them.

One woman fleeing northern Gaza, Fedaa Shangan, said she’d had a cesarean section at Al-Quds: “The wound is still fresh.” She said the Israeli army near the hospital “did not care about the presence of patients, children, women and the elderly. They did not care about anyone.”

Alarm was growing. “We do not want to see a firefight in a hospital where innocent people, helpless people, people seeking medical care are caught in the crossfire,” President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told ABC’s “This Week.”

“Decisive international action is needed now to secure an immediate humanitarian cease-fire” amid attacks on health care, the U.N. regional directors of the World Health Organization and others said in a statement, adding that more than half of Gaza’s hospitals are closed.

Muhammed Zaqout, director of hospitals in Gaza, said the Health Ministry has been unable to update the death toll since Friday as medics are unable to reach areas hit by Israeli bombardment.

About 2.3 million Palestinians remain in the besieged territory.

Netanyahu has said the responsibility for any harm to civilians lies with Hamas. Israel has long accused the group, which operates in dense residential neighborhoods, of using civilians as human shields.

EVACUATION WINDOWS, BUT NO PAUSES

The U.S. has pushed for temporary pauses that would allow for wider distribution of badly needed aid to civilians in the territory, where conditions are increasingly dire.

But Israel has only agreed to brief daily periods during which civilians can flee ground combat in northern Gaza and head south on foot along two main roads. Israel continues to strike what it says are militant targets across southern Gaza, often killing women and children.

Hospital officials said at least 13 were killed after an Israeli airstrike in the southern town of Khan Younis.

The war has displaced over two-thirds of Gaza’s population.

Wael Abu Omar, spokesperson for Gaza’s border crossings, said 846 people left Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah crossing Sunday. Nearly all were foreigners while a few were patients from Gaza’s hospitals and their caretakers.

He said 76 aid trucks entered Gaza. The U.N. and partners have said much more were needed daily.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on X that he asked European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to apply the same “legal, moral grounds” for EU support of Ukraine to “define its stand on Israel’s war crimes.”

More than 11,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and minors, have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. About 2,700 people have been reported missing.

At least 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial Hamas attack. Forty-six Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ground offensive began.

About 250,000 Israelis have evacuated from communities near Gaza, where Palestinian militants are still firing barrages of rockets, and along the northern border with Lebanon.

NETANYAHU REJECTS U.S. POSTWAR VISION

Netanyahu has begun to outline Israel’s postwar plans for Gaza, which contrast sharply with the vision of the United States.

He said Gaza would be demilitarized and Israel would retain the ability to enter Gaza freely to hunt down militants. He rejected the idea that the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, would at some stage control Gaza.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the U.S. opposes an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and envisions a unified Palestinian government in Gaza and the West Bank as a step toward a Palestinian state, long opposed by Netanyahu’s government.

The war threatens to trigger a wider conflict, with Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon trading fire along the border. Attacks by Hezbollah on Sunday wounded seven Israeli troops and 10 others, Israel’s military and rescue services said.

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Zelenskiy tells Ukrainians to prepare for Russian winter onslaught

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned Ukrainians on Sunday to prepare for new waves of Russian attacks on infrastructure as winter approached and said troops were anticipating an onslaught in the eastern theatre of the war.

A military spokesman said Russian attacks on the shattered eastern town of Avdiivka had eased in the past day, but were likely to intensify in the coming days.

And Ukrainian military intelligence said an explosion killed at least three Russian servicemen in the Russian-occupied southern town of Melitopol, which it described as an "act of revenge" by resistance groups.

Zelenskiy issued his warning during his nightly video address a day after Russian forces carried out their first missile attack on the capital, Kyiv in some seven weeks.

"We are almost half way through November and must be prepared for the fact that the enemy may increase the number of drone or missile strikes on our infrastructure," Zelenskiy said. "Russia is preparing for Ukraine. And here, in Ukraine, all attention should be focused on defence, on responding to terrorists on everything that Ukraine can do to get through the winter and improve our soldiers' capabilities."

Last winter about 10 months into Russia's invasion of neighbour Ukraine, Russia made waves of attacks on power stations and other plants linked to the energy network, prompting rolling blackouts in widely separated regions.

Energy Minister German Galushchenko said on Saturday that Ukraine would have enough energy resources to get through the winter, but added: "The question is how much future attacks can affect supplies."

Ukrainian officials last Wednesday said Russia had struck Ukrainian infrastructure 60 times in recent weeks, an indication that a campaign of attacks may already be under way.

In his remarks, Zelenskiy hailed the "heroic" efforts of troops defending Avdiivka, under pressure from attempted Russian advances since mid-October. Pictures show buildings in the town reduced to shells.

Military spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun said the number of infantry attacks in the past 24 hours was half of levels earlier in the week, but air strikes were on the rise.

"The enemy suffered significant losses the day before yesterday and has to regroup," Shtupun told national television.

The head of Ukraine's ground forces, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Telegram that Moscow's forces were "more active in the Bakhmut sector and trying to recover lost positions".

Bakhmut, north of the city of Donetsk, was captured by Russian forces in May after months of heavy combat, but Ukrainian troops have since retaken nearby villages.

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Russian accounts of the fighting on Sunday said its forces had repelled five Ukrainian attacks near Bakhmut.

Reuters could not verify accounts from either side.

In Melitopol, a hub for Russian occupation forces, the blast killed three men during a meeting at a post office used as a military headquarters, Ukraine's military intelligence directorate said. The dead were officers of Russia's National Guard or FSB intelligence service, the directorate said in a statement.

There was no comment from Russian officials.

Ukraine's military has been increasingly active in attacking Russian-held areas, but does not always acknowledge the strikes.

** Blast kills three Russian officers in occupied town, Ukraine intelligence says

At least three Russian officers were killed in the Moscow-controlled Ukrainian city of Melitopol in a blast Ukraine's intelligence said on Sunday was an "act of revenge" by local resistance groups.

The blast occurred during a meeting on Saturday of Russian officers in Melitopol, a town in southwestern Ukraine that has become a hub of Russian forces after they captured it in early days of the war.

"This act of revenge, carried out by representatives of the local resistance movement, took place in the (post) offices seized by the Russians," the Ukrainian Defence Ministry's intelligence department said on the Telegram messaging app.

Reuters could not independently verify the Ukrainian intelligence claim. Russia's defence ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters' request to comment.

The Ukraine intelligence statement said the Saturday meeting was attended by Russian National Guard and FSB intelligence service officers.

"As a result of the explosion at least three National Guard officers were killed at the headquarters," the statement said. "Information of other enemy losses is being clarified."

Both Russia and Ukraine have often underestimated their military casualties in the 20-month-long war, while exaggerated the losses they claim to have inflicted upon each other.

Ukraine has carried out a number of attacks on Melitopol, a town in the Zaporizhzhia region which had a pre-war population of about 150,000 which has become key to Moscow's defence of the lands it now controls in Ukraine's south.

"The enemy does not learn anything and continues to organise its headquarters there," Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Melitopol, told Ukrainian public television.

Ukraine, which launched a slow and gruelling counteroffensive in the south and east in early June has retaken only a handful of small villages along the front. Kyiv said retaking Melitopol would open a route to the Crimean Peninsula for Ukrainian forces.

Ukrainian forces staged a missile attack on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Russian-annexed Crimea in September. Ukrainian media said an attack last week on the occupied town of Skadovsk in Kherson region also targeted Russian officers.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Next month could decide Ukraine conflict – Macron

The Ukraine conflict could reach a turning point by the end of this year, French President Emmanuel Macron has predicted, several months into Kiev’s counteroffensive, which has so far failed to make significant gains. However, he ruled out the possibility of Ukraine opening talks with Russia in the foreseeable future.

In an interview with the BBC released on Friday, Macron claimed that if Moscow prevails over Kiev, “you will have a new imperial power” in Europe that, he argued, would threaten many of its neighbors, including former Soviet republics.

The French leader reiterated that the West should continue to support Ukraine with military assistance, arguing that next month will be critical in the conflict. However, he did not specify how events in December could affect the eventual outcome.

Regarding a possible cessation of hostilities, Macron suggested that it is “not yet” time for Ukraine to come to the negotiating table with Russia, and that a decision on the matter should be made by Kiev independently. However, he said that at some point it might be possible to “have fair and good negotiations, and to come back to the table and find a solution with Russia”.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive has been underway since early June, but the frontline remains largely unchanged. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has estimated Ukrainian losses at more than 90,000 service members as well as 600 tanks and 1,900 armored vehicles since the start of the push.

US network NBC News reported last week that Western officials were engaged in “delicate” talks with Kiev to see whether it could consider some concessions to Russia to end the fighting. According to the article, the calls were driven by fears in the West that the hostilities have “reached a stalemate,” and that Ukraine is “running out of forces.”

Russia has repeatedly said it is open to talks with Kiev. Last autumn, however, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree banning all negotiations with the current leadership in Moscow after four former Ukrainian regions overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in public referendums.

Last year, Macron suggested that any peace talks on Ukraine would have to include discussions on security guarantees for Russia, especially regarding the positioning of NATO forces in Europe. Ukrainian officials, however, rejected the idea out of hand.

Reuters/RT