***Says, he weep for Nigeria’s democracy

By Francesca Hangeior

The Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Fintiri, has raised serious concerns over the conduct of Saturday’s Edo election, describing it as a blatant attack on Nigeria’s democracy.

Fintiri condemned the alleged irregularities, “including vote buying, voter intimidation, and the manipulation of election results,” which he claimed “undermined the integrity of the electoral process” in a post on his X platform on Sunday.

The governor also accused the ruling All Progressives Congress of violating democratic norms, citing incidents where APC officials, including the party’s national chairman, flew into Edo on election day despite movement restrictions.

On September 22, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared the All Progressives Congress candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, victorious in the recently concluded Edo State governorship election.

Okpebholo triumphed over his main challengers, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party.

The Returning Officer, Prof. Faruk Kuta, announced Okpebholo as the winner at the collation centre in Benin City, the state capital, on Sunday.

The APC candidate secured 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo, who garnered 247,274 votes. Akpata of the LP finished a distant third with 22,763 votes.

Reacting to the outcome of the election, Finitiri further criticised the INEC for reportedly favouring the APC, warning that the country’s democracy was at risk if such practices continued unchecked.

The statement read, “I weep for Nigeria’s democracy after witnessing the shameful Edo Gubernatorial poll. The @OfficialAPCNg’s desperate attempts to discredit me by falsely claiming I announced results won’t distract from the real issue. I merely shared results from INEC’s Irev portal, as collated by INEC from the various Local Government Areas.

“What’s truly shameful is APC’s national chairman flying into Edo with a private jet on election day, defying movement restrictions, while their Governors used armoured escorts to intimidate voters. This blatant disregard for democratic norms is the real brigandage. Nigerians are outraged, slamming @inecnigeria for compromising and favouring APC.

“The reported vote-buying, disruption of collation processes, and suspicious results with more votes than accredited voters undermine trust in our democracy.

Democracy indeed is under attack. We must condemn this rape of democracy and demand accountability. The world is watching, and Nigeria deserves better.”

By Francesca Hangeior

China has warned the United States not to take “discriminatory actions” against its firms, following reports that Washington is planning to ban the sale of vehicles using Chinese and Russian technology.

Bloomberg and other media reported Sunday, citing sources, that the United States was mulling new rules that would ban hardware and software made in China from its vehicles.

Asked about the reports, foreign ministry spokesman, Lin Jian, said China urged, “the US to respect market principles and provide an open, fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises”.

“China opposes the US’s broadening of the concept of national security and the discriminatory actions taken against Chinese companies and products,” Lin said.

“China will resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” he added.

The rules, if confirmed, would mark the latest escalation of a simmering trade row between the US and China.

In May, Washington unveiled steep tariff hikes on Chinese imports like electric vehicles and semiconductors.

The tariff hikes hit $18 billion worth of Chinese imports, targeting strategic sectors like EVs, batteries, critical minerals and medical products, the White House said.

The tariff rate on EVs is set to quadruple to 100 per cent this year while the tariff for semiconductors will surge from 25 per cent to 50 per cent by next year.

Those plans were finalised this month, ahead of November’s presidential election, where both Democrats and Republicans are seeking to show a tough stance on China as competition between both countries intensifies.

The tariff hikes on the $18 billion worth of goods were taken after a review of levies imposed under then-president Donald Trump, which impacted some $300 billion in goods from China.

Apart from tariff increases including those on solar cells, the US Trade Representative’s office confirmed that a 50 percent duty on semiconductors a sharp rise from before would start in 2025.

US President Joe Biden has accused Beijing of “cheating” rather than competing on trade.