Some armed thugs on Saturday invaded the polling units in Ijebu Igbo to disrupt the ongoing local government elections in Ogun State.

Recall that some Ogun State residents are expected to elect chairmen and councillors into the 20 Local Government Councils and 236 wards across the three Senatorial Districts in the state.

However, it was learnt that the election was largely characterised by a low turnout of voters and logistics challenges at the early stage of the exercise in most council areas.

The News Agency of Nigeria, which monitored the exercise across the state, reports that the elections scheduled to be held between 8am and 3pm did not start until 11am in most of the polling centres.

NAN reports that most of the polling units visited at Oke-Ilewo and Adigbe areas o Abeokuta-South Local Government Area as well as Ibafo and Mowe areas in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area were virtually empty as of 11am.

Meanwhile, election materials and electoral officials left many local government headquarters, including Ado-Odo/Ota, Abeokuta-North, and Sagamu, as late as 11am.

In multiple videos and pictures obtained online, some thugs were seen harassing voters at polling units in Ijebu Igbo town.

The media also learnt that some of the voters and residents of the town were injured by the political thugs.

Oluremi, wife of President Bola Tinubu, has urged Nigerian market women to avoid hiking food prices as the festive season approaches.

She made this appeal in Ebonyi State while addressing women during the 2024 Women’s Day Celebration at the Pa Ngele Oruta Township Stadium, Abakaliki.

“With the Yuletide season fast approaching, the First Lady appealed to market women to refrain from unfair hikes in prices of food items during the festive season,” said Busola Kukoyi, her media aide, in a statement on Saturday.

During her visit, Tinubu inaugurated a 3.1-kilometre runway at the Wilberforce Chuba Okadigbo International Airport in Onueke, noting that it would enhance the state’s socio-economic growth.

“Nigeria has everything it takes for us to be a great nation,” she said during an interaction with Ebonyi traditional rulers.

The First Lady commended Governor Francis Nwifuru for exceeding 35 per cent female representation in appointments, announcing his plan to empower 130 businesses with N1million each.

She added, “As RHI, we did not come empty-handed. We are donating a sum of N50million, 20,000 wrappers, shoes and bags to support businesses of women in that line, in this state.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has claimed that it is impossible for former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, to become Nigerian president without the support of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and others.

The PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, said this in an interview with PUNCH, while denying that the party had an agreement to hand over the party’s presidential ticket to Atiku or any of its political bigwigs ahead of the 2027 election.

“Nobody has told the party that he or she is running on the platform of the PDP for the party to take a position, and there is no agreement that a particular person will be given the ticket. As of today, we have not issued notice for the sale of form, we have not called for primaries. So, we don’t know who is running and who is not going to run,” Osadolor said.

Osadolor’s rebuttal came barely two days after the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, ruled out Atiku’s chances of securing the PDP’s presidential ticket again in 2027.

He said Wike’s position might be valid if what transpired in the past was put into consideration.

Osadolor, however, stated that Atiku couldn’t also be ruled out of contention for the ticket, citing Donald Trump’s victory as a reference point.

He said, “If Trump could win a Kamala Harris, anything is possible. Again, Wike’s points are valid. It is only a man who is immune to changes that would discard most of the observations he made because at the end of the day, it is about the people.

“So, maybe there was something about branding or the way he (Atiku) branded himself in the past that didn’t resonate well with the people. But people still have the opinion that the elections were a fraud and that he actually won. At any rate, I don’t also see him running and winning without trying to curry the support of everybody, including that of Nyesom Wike himself too.”

Recall that Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, had also described former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, as a chronic betrayer who can never be given the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He had said it was better for Atiku to abandon his 2027 presidential ambitions.

In a statement issued in Abuja, Olayinka asserted that the 2023 PDP presidential candidate should no longer be considered for the party’s ticket, claiming that “the PDP presidential ticket will no longer be available to be wasted by serial betrayers of the party, who are now reaping the consequences of their past betrayals.”

Olayinka further emphasised that Atiku should give up any thoughts of contesting the 2027 election under the PDP banner, stating, “Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and those pushing him for their own interests should allow the PDP to breathe.”