The member representing Nasarawa South Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, has advised youths in Nasarawa State, to deploy all their competencies towards the 2023 general elections.

Senator Al-Makura gave the advice when the state executives of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Nasarawa chapter visited him in his house in Lafia, the state capital yesterday.

The former governor said the task becomes necessary because the forthcoming general election is not going to be business as usual, with the introduction of BVAS.

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“I urge you to deploy all your competencies to mobilise support for the government of the day to ensure that Governor Sule returns to power in 2023,” he said.

He said his administration has achieved a lot in the state and the present APC administration under Governor Sule is adding value to the foundations his predecessors laid; as such he said the governor needs the support of all.

Al-Makura commended the NYCN for constituting the “Public-Traditional Intelligence Gathering Committee,” which will collect data and document it for future use.

The state chairman of NYCN, Comrade Jaafar Loko said they came to introduce coordinators of the council in Nasarawa South and the Public-Traditional Intelligence Gathering Committee to the Senator.

Loko, who appreciated Al-Makura for his support to the council since his days as governor, assured him of their support towards realising his second-term ambition.

The Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA) has accused the political class of not showing commitment to the new Electoral Act, regretting that they have continued their old ways.

The civil society urged Nigerians to support the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to resist any attempt to halt the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the 2023 general elections.

The Executive Director of CTA, Faith Nwadishi, who said the event was necessitated by recent development in the polity where an opposition coalition raised the alarm of some alleged plot to halt the use of BVAS and effect leadership change in INEC, insisted that Nigerians must rise up to resist such acts.

She said: “Recent disclosures and developments have activated in us the responsibility to speak in defence of our country and her democracy. The 2023 general election, which is 133 days away, is upon Nigeria and Nigerians.

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She said her group appreciated the steady progress made by the country in its electoral process.

The centre, according to Nwadishi, praised INEC for its ongoing clean-up exercise ahead of the elections, saying the action had instilled hope in Nigerians.

“So far, about 2.7 million invalid registrants were cleaned up from the system.

“This act has shown that the Commission is on the right cause to getting credible voters registered,” she said.

CTA notes that there can’t be credible elections without a credible register of voters.

“While INEC has shown signs of progress, we note that the political class has not shown commitment to the new Electoral Act and its provisions,” she said.

Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari is expected to inaugurate the three ongoing interchange road projects in the state capital before leaving office in 2023.

The State’s Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport, Alhaji Tasiu Dahiru Dandagoro, who stated this on the sidelines of an inspection tour of the ongoing projects sites in Katsina by Governor Masari, said most of the projects have reached 90 per cent completion and are likely to be inaugurated by November.

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He said: “The Kofar Kaura interchange construction has reached almost 90-92 per cent completion stage, while Kofa Quaya is 80-85 per cent completion.”

Also, the immediate past Katsina State Secretary to State Government (SSG), Dr Mustapha Inuwa, alongside hundreds of his supporters yesterday defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Inuwa, who made the declaration yesterday during a meeting with his followers in Katsina, said supporters who wish to stay back in the APC can do so.”

The Borno State Police Command said it had incorporated about 1,800 police constabulary to complement the efforts of security agencies in combating crimes in the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Abdu Umar, in a chat with reporters in Maiduguri yesterday, said the newly recruited volunteers were currently receiving orientations on what was expected of them in the discharge of their duties.

Umar said the constables would be deployed to their communities across the 27 local government areas for effective community policing.

He said the Community Policing Constabulary Scheme of the Force was purely voluntary service introduced by the Federal Government to train and incorporate individuals with prior paid employment who desire to spend their spare time assisting the police in its simple police tasks within their various communities.

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He said their roles would include assisting the police in crime detection and prevention, conflict resolution, intelligence gathering and dissemination to local police commanders.

Other roles include maintenance of law and order, deployment to complement conventional police officers in patrolling their communal public space, advising the public on safety, and working with relevant stakeholders on crime control.

“We have already deployed 10 policemen in all the council to augment other sister security agencies that are combating terrorism and other crimes.

“Very soon, you will see the police everywhere. These ones will be dressed in black and black; they are different from our police in their crest and badges,” he said.

The Commissioner of Police assured that the men would intensify raids at criminals’ hideouts and enhance police visibility, to deter criminals from nursing the ambition of perpetrating crimes.

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has developed a draft budget of continuous growth and development to be presented to the State House of Assembly tomorrow.

The budget proposal of N291, 932,185,576.34 comprises recurrent estimates of ?126,833,534,781.40 and capital estimates of ?165,098,650,794.94.

In the next year’s budget, education and health would gulp about 40 per cent of the total sum; cutting away N65.7 billion representing about 25 per cent and ?23.4 billion representing about 15 per cent, respectively.

In a town hall event sponsored by the Development Research and Project Centre (DRPC), Governor El-Rufai said as his administration winds down in a few months, all the ongoing projects would be completed.

He said: “When we assumed office in 2015, the public consultation mechanism in governance was not at the enviable level it is today.

“As a responsive government, we recognised early, the need to engage citizens in every step of the governance process, and deliberately institutionalised town hall meetings as an avenue for citizens and government to engage, exchange ideas, co-create and obtain feedback.

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“As this administration approaches its twilight, I wish to reiterate our resolve to ensure the finishing of all ongoing projects before the transition in May 2023,” the governor said.

The Project Director of Giwak’s PACFah@scale budget, Aminu Babangida, said the state’s 2023 Budget on health was reduced, compared to previous years and “as a result of the crises between Ukraine and Russia and issues regarding the globe.”

He, however, noted that the event was organised to call the state government’s attention to the cut in the budget, which will be rectified subsequently by the state’s Ministry of Budget.

Babangida said: “We are into advocacy on key issues such as family planning, child killer diseases and this programme is being supported by DRPC PACFah at scale budget, of which we realised there was no cash backing for some of this programmes in the budget.

Breaking down the 2023 estimated income and expenditure for the state during a town hall meeting with citizens accountability platforms in the principle of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), the Commissioner for Planning and Budget, Umma Yusuf Aboki said the 2023–2025 draft budget was prepared based on macro-economic assumptions and which include crude oil price at $70 per barrel, production benchmark at 1.69 million barrels per day, and exchange rate at ?435.17 per $1.

“The 2023 draft Budget was prepared on the expectation that the base effects would decline as economic activities normalise in the non-oil sector, meaning that the economy will grow at a much faster pace during the year in view.

“As with previous years, the 2023 draft budget being discussed today has been uploaded online a few days ago, to ensure its openness and accessibility for public scrutiny, observations, comments, criticisms, and suggestions,” she said.

It was massive turnout of supporters of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Friday, at the IBB Square in Makurdi, as the party unveiled its deputy governorship candidate, Barr. Samuel Ode.

Members of the Campaign Council were also inaugurated at the occasion.

The APC also used the occasion to send a message to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), ahead of the 2023 general elections, that it will be sent packing from Government House, Makurdi.

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The APC governorship candidate, Rev. Father Hycinth Alia and Barr. Samuel Ode in their separate speeches, advised party members to close ranks and work towards winning the 2023 general elections at all levels.

The atmosphere was carnival-like, as okada riders, market women, youths and women turn the gigantic IBB square into jamboree space, singing and dancing to sonorous pro-APC campaign songs.