Today’s Headlines: Don’t stop at voting, hold Tinubu govt accountable — Egwu urges Nigerians, El-Rufai Directed Supporters To Vote ADC — Party Chieftain

ABUJA — As Nigeria approaches the 2027 general election, former Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Sam Egwu, has urged Nigerians to look beyond casting their votes and hold the Tinubu administration accountable, warning that shrinking civic space, restrictions on media freedom and weak accountability are threatening the country’s democracy.

He said citizens must not wait until election day to participate in governance but should remain engaged, question government policies and demand answers from elected officials.

Egwu spoke at the 20th anniversary gala and lecture of the Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education, CHRICED, in Abuja, where he delivered a lecture titled, ‘Reclaiming Civic Space: The Rule of Law, Democratic Accountability, and the Future of Citizens’ Participation in Nigeria.’

Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has asked his supporters to vote for candidates of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) at all levels.

The former governor issued the directive through the North-West vice chairman of the party, Hafsat Baba, during a coalition meeting of support groups loyal to him in Kaduna State.

The former Governor urged his supporters to remain united, peaceful and law-abiding as they mobilise support for the ADC ahead of the general elections.

Baba said that El-Rufai’s directive covers the presidential, governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections across Kaduna State’s 23 local government areas, adding that the coalition meeting was convened to bring the various support groups together and coordinate their activities ahead of the general elections.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, Kebbi State chapter, is seeking a minimum transportation allowance of N70,000 for workers in the state to cushion the effects of rising transportation costs.

The state chairman of the union, Murtala Usman, disclosed this in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Monday, saying the union would soon meet with Governor Nasir Idris to present its demand.

Usman said the decision was reached at a stakeholders’ meeting involving all affiliate unions of the NLC in the state, where workers agreed to push for the introduction of the allowance.

He explained that the proposed allowance would cover all categories of public sector workers, including teachers, local government employees, health workers and other civil servants.

Access Holdings saw its net profit for the year to September drop 5.9 per cent, compared to the same period last year, hammered by soaring cost of funds, even though revenue came out stronger, its latest earnings report showed on Monday.

What the corporation pays to depositors for holding their money and the interest it pays on borrowings, both jointly called cost of funds by analysts, jumped to N1.8 trillion from N1.6 trillion, consuming the lion’s share of the interest it generated by itself.

For that reason, Nigeria’s biggest banking group ended up spending 58.4 per cent of its total interest income on such costs during the period. That was up from 56.7 per cent a year ago.

The main pressure point on earnings performance is often the fixed deposit rates of Access Bank, its flagship commercial banking arm, usually priced high, compared to those of its peers.

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