The streets of Santiago erupted in celebration Sunday after leftist millennial Gabriel Boric became Chile’s youngest-ever president-elect with an unexpectedly large victory over his far-right rival in a polarizing race.

Boric, 35, garnered nearly 56 percent of the vote compared to 44 percent for ultra-conservative Jose Antonio Kast, who conceded even before the final result was known.

Tens of thousands of Chileans took to the streets of the capital and other cities after Kast’s concession, honking car horns in approval, brandishing pro-Boric placards, waving the rainbow LGBTQ flag and shouting: “Viva Chile!”

Fireworks lit the skies for hours on end.

“I’m thrilled, I am crying with joy. We dealt a blow to fascism!” pharmacy worker Jennie Enriquez, 45, told AFP.

“I am happy because there are going to be many changes that will help the people and the working class,” added construction worker Luis Astorga, 58.

Boric had campaigned on the promise of installing a “social welfare” state, increasing taxes and social spending in a country with one of the world’s largest gaps between rich and poor.

Branded a “communist” by his detractors, he vowed in his first official address Sunday to “expand social rights” in Chile, but to do so with “fiscal responsibility.”

“We will do it protecting our macro-economy, we will do it well… to improve pensions and healthcare,” he said.

Kast is an apologist for brutal dictator Augusto Pinochet and his neo-liberal economic model, credited with Chile’s relative wealth but blamed for its deep-rooted social inequality.

He opposes same-sex marriage, contraception and abortion, and had initially pledged to close the ministry of women’s affairs, a promise he later rowed back on.

According to a projection by Chile’s Servel election body, turnout was more than 55 percent — a record since voting became voluntary in 2012.

“Clearly more young people came out, it seems clear… that Boric managed to mobilize the segment that is more difficult to mobilize, which is the segment of young people,” Claudia Heiss of the University of Chile told AFP.

“All (Kast’s) anti-rights, anti-women, anti-gay speech, I think it helped mobilize that young segment,” she added.

The new president will face the difficult task of healing a society reeling from a polarizing campaign replete with antagonistic attacks and fake news onslaughts.

For a country that has voted centrist since the democratic ousting of Pinochet 31 years ago, it was a stark choice between two polar opposite political outsiders.

Boric on Sunday reiterated his plans for “a more humane Chile, a more dignified Chile, a more egalitarian Chile.”

Congratulations poured in from elsewhere in Latin America, from Brazil’s ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel and Argentina’s Alberto Fernandez on the left, to right-wing presidents Ivan Duque of Colombia and Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador.

Boric and Kast had softened their policy proposals in a bid to appeal to Chileans left without an obvious candidate when they split the centrist vote in the first round, leaving only the two antipodes.

Both represent parties that have never been in government.

 ‘President of all Chileans’ –
Chile is going through profound change after voting overwhelmingly last year in favor of drawing up a new constitution to replace the one enacted in the Pinochet years.

The 2020 referendum was in response to an anti-inequality social uprising in 2019 that left dozens dead.

The drafting process, in the hands of a largely left-leaning body elected in May, must yield a constitution for approval next year, on the new president’s watch.

President Sebastian Pinera, who leaves office with a low approval rating, said Sunday the country was living in “an environment of excessive polarization, confrontation, disputes.”

Pinera urged his successor, before the result was known, to never forget that “he will be the president of all Chileans, and not just those who support him.”

Boric will be inaugurated in March next year.

A Nigerian priest of the Catholic Diocese of Abia, Abia State, and an Apostolic Nuncio to the Antilles, Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, has been appointed the Permanent Observer of the Holy See – the Vatican – to the United Nations Office and Specialised Institutions in Geneva.

The appointment, made by Pope Francis, was announced in a press statement by the Office of the Antilles Episcopal Conference Secretariat, Port of Spain, Trinidad, and Tobago, where Archbishop Nwachukwu is currently serving as Apostolic Nuncio.

Pope also appointed Archbishop Nwachukwu as permanent observer to the World Trade Organisation and the Representative of the Vatican to the International Migrations.

The statement read, ” Pope Francis, has appointed Apostolic Nuncio to the Antilles, Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, to the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations Office and Specialized Institutions in Geneva, as well as the Permanent Observer to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Representative of the Holy See to the International Migrations Organization (IOM).

“He was transferred from Nicaragua to the current Mission in Trinidad and Tobago on November 4, 2017, and assumed office on March 19, 2018.

“He is sincerely grateful for your support during this mission in this region and requests that you please accompany him with your prayers and friendship as he prepares to embrace the new responsibility.

“He will still remain in charge of the Mission in Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and Antilles, until he departs for the new mission at the United Nations at the beginning of March 2022.”

Nwachukwu was born on May 10, 1960, in Umuokoro, Eziama-Ntigha, in Isia-Ala Ngwa North Local Government Area of Abia State.

He is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Aba, in Abia State, ordained on June 17, 1984. He hails from Ntigha Isiala, Ngwa North.

In January 1972, he was admitted into Immaculate Conception Seminary, Ahiaeke Umuahia, at the age of 11. 

Three years later, in 1975, he and some of his classmates were allowed to sit the last London GCE, before the West African Examination Council (WAEC) took over the organisation of the secondary school final examinations. His result was excellent.

He then taught Mathematics and Latin in the same seminary until 1977, when he was sent to continue his priestly formation at the newly opened Philosophy Faculty of the Bigard Memorial Seminary at Ikot Ekpene.

From 1980 to 1984 he completed his seminary formation at the Theology Faculty of the same Bigard Memorial Seminary at Enugu.

He passed his Bachelor of Divinity examinations with a summa cum laude and was honoured to give the valedictory speech at the graduation of his class. That same year, 1984, on 17 June, the late Bishop of Umuahia, Rt. Rev. Anthony Gogo Nwedo, C.S.Sp., ordained him to the Catholic priesthood for the Diocese of Umuahia, at St Eugene’s Parish Church in Aba. He would later be transferred to the Diocese of Aba when it was created in 1990.

After his priestly ordination, Fr. Fortunatus worked as a teacher and later as vice-rector of the Immaculate Conception Seminary, Umuahia, as well as parochial vicar and administrator of the St Anne’s Parish, Ibeku (1984-1986). 

Concurrently, he served as the Diocesan vocations’ director, as well as the chaplain of the Federal College of Agriculture and the Umuahia Campus of Alvan Ikoku College of Education, both in Umudike-Umuahia.

In 1986, he was sent to Rome for specialization studies. He studied Scriptures at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule, Sankt Georgen, in Frankfurt, Germany.

Archbishop Nwachukwu speaks and understands several languages, beyond his mother tongue, Igbo, including English, Italian, German, French, Spanish, modern Hebrew and a bit of Arabic, as well as some ancient languages of Biblical research namely, Latin, Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic.

The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, has submitted the probe panel report on the suspended Head of the Intelligence Response Team, Abba Kyari, to the Police Service Commission.

This is coming almost six months after the SIP led by DIG Joseph Egbunike submitted its report to the IG.

A commissioner on the PSC, Austin Braimoh, confirmed to our correspondent on Sunday that the commission would deliberate on the issue this week.

He said the PSC Standing Committee on Discipline was still going through the report, adding that the report would be presented to the PSC plenary later on.

“The standing committee is still going through the report after which they would present it to the plenary for action,” he said on the phone.

Our correspondent had reported that Kyari was queried and his response was delivered to the Force Disciplinary Committee.

Kyari was investigated over his alleged role in a $1.1m internet scam by an Instagram influencer, Abbas Ramon, aka Hushpuppi, and four others.

The probe followed his indictment by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations which recommended that he be extradited to the US for trial.

A Special Agent with the FBI, Andrew Innocenti, had alleged that Hushpuppi contracted Kyari after a “co-conspirator,” Chibuzo Vincent, allegedly threatened to expose the alleged $1.1m fraud committed against a Qatari businessman.

Owing to the lavish praises heaped on Vice President Yemi Osinbajo by the Emir of Daura, Dr Umar Umar, on Saturday after the turbaning of the President’s son, Yusuf Buhari, members of the Progressive Consolidation Group have said that the gesture has reinforced their commitment towards actualising an Osinbajo Presidency in 2023.

This is according to a statement signed on Sunday by the Spokesperson of the pro-Osinbajo PCG, Emmanuel Pippa, titled ‘2023: Emir of Daura has proved us right on choice of Osinbajo, says group.’

According to the PCG which became the first of such intra-party pressure groups to be officially recognised by the All Progressives Congress, the warm reception given to Osinbajo by the masses and royalty speaks volumes about what people with good foresight should expect in 2023.

“The revered royal father’s objective and very positive comments extolling the positive attributes of the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo further reinforces convictions about the fatherly wisdom of the Emir of Daura and the genuine leadership qualities of Professor Osinbajo.

“It was a crucial meeting between clarity of vision and clarity of perception and fortunately, members of the PCG which is the mobilisation arm of The Progressive Project were on hand to join the entire people of Daura Emirate in witnessing not only an installation but also an unfolding of future events,” Pippa stated.

The PCG noted that “the Emir who was not given to frivolity unequivocally acknowledged that he (Osinbajo) ‘is a very good man, He is my favourite person’.”

“‘The warm and enthusiastic reception granted the Vice President by ordinary citizens as well as the Emir of Daura’s affirmation that ‘he is a nobleman who keeps his promises and a trustworthy person who has so much patience and knows what to do at any given time,’ clearly differentiates Osinbajo from other aspirants to the nation’s top position.

“Knowing that Professor Osinbajo has been a very loyal and trustworthy Vice President and understanding that he is a man of great intellectual capacity further reinforces the hopes of Nigeria’s true Progressives who look forward to a consolidation of gains made under President Muhammadu Buhari as well as a decisive march towards national greatness, unity and development.”

According to the PCG, the Emir of Daura is too frank and candid to refer to just anyone as his favourite person and as someone who keeps promises; the leadership qualities of Osinbajo is perceptible to the highly-placed and millions of ordinary citizens whose votes will decide the outcome of 2023 presidential elections.

According to the PCG spokesman, members of the group who joined multitudes of others to welcome the Vice President to Daura include the PCG’s National Chairman, Dr Ali Kurfi, chairman of Katsina State chapter of PCG, Abu Gafai, its Secretary, Abdullahi Marusa, Treasurer, Abu Huraira, PCG’s Woman Leader, Rukkaya Daura and its Financial Secretary, Sani Shu’aibu.

The Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, has asked
the government to partner with members of the various transport unions and security agents to curb armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism and other criminal activities in the state.

Oluomo said this while speaking to newsmen shortly after commissioning the new State Secretariat of the Riders and Owners of Motorcycle organisation in Abeokuta .

The speaker said continuous engagement of transport unions would help to curb excesses of their members thereby engendering peace in the state.

He said, “We will continue to engage them. When people have stayed at home for a long time, they result to riding motorbikes. What we are trying to do is to engage them through this type of organisation.

“This signifies the empowerment this government embarked upon when we came on board.

“ROMO as you can see is one of the motorcycle organisations that we have in Ogun State and we are able to accommodate a lot of youths that would have been roaming about the street and causing a lot of havoc.

“They are an organisation at the same time agents of government in getting tax into the purse of the government. They are using their position to coordinate the activities of motorcycle riders in the state for security reasons.”

The Chairman of ROMO in the state, Rasaq Sotayo, revealed that the union is currently building a multimillion naira orthopedic hospital.

He said the hospital, when completed, will take care of the treatment of members at subsidised rates.

Sotayo said the new building would help boost the social economic development of the state as it serves as a revenue generating building.

He added that apart from contributing to the revenue purse of the state, it would also empower youths in the state which will definitely stream down to members of the public.

The Republic of Benin, Niger Republic and Togo made no payment for the electricity supplied to them from Nigeria in the second quarter of 2021, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has said.

In its just released Second Quarter Report 2021, the NERC stated that the power firms of the three nations and some other special customers were issued a total bill of N770m by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading company and the Market Operator of the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

It, however, noted that nothing was paid by the neighbouring countries and other special customers for the power supplied to them from Nigeria during the period.

The neighbouring countries’ power firms include Societe Nigerienne d’electricite – NIGELEC, in Niger Republic; Societe Beninoise d’Energie Electrique – SBEE, in Benin Republic; and Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo– CEET, in Togo Republic.

The commission said, “During the quarter under review, NBET and MO issued a total of N0.77bn in respect of energy sold by NBET and services rendered by MO to the special (Ajaokuta Steel Co. Ltd and other bilateral customers) and international customers (Societe Nigerienne d’electricite – NIGELEC, Societe Beninoise d’Energie Electrique – SBEE and Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo– CEET).

CEET).

“No payment was made by these customers during the quarter under review. It is hoped that as the economy of these customers improves post-COVID-19 lockdown so that they will resume the settlement of their bills in full.”

On the performance of distribution companies in Nigeria with respect to the payment of electricity sold to them by the NBET, the power sector regulator stated that the firms did not pay up all their bills.

“During the second quarter of 2021, a total invoice of N259.7bn was issued to the eleven Discos for energy received from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc and for service charge by MO, out of which a sum of N130.11bn was settled, representing remittance performance of 50.11 per cent.

“This represents a 1.78 percentage point decrease from the final settlement rate recorded in the first quarter of 2021.”

The NERC stated that apart from Eko Disco, none of the other Discos met their expected minimum remittance thresholds to NBET in the quarter under review.

It stated that overall, the total Disco remittance to NBET was 76 per cent of expected total for the quarter, as the average aggregate remittance performances to MO and NBET decreased by 1.78 percentage points from 51.88 per cent in first quarter 2021 to 50.1 per cent in the second quarter.

“Discos remittance performance level ranged from 10.51 per cent (Yola) to 63.69 per cent (Eko) for NBET and 28.76 per cent (Yola) to 99.88 per cent (Eko) for MO,” the NERC stated.

It added, “Ikeja recorded zero remittance to MO in the months of May and June 2021 as they wait to resolve Service Level Agreement dispute.”

On commercial performance, the report stated that the total billing to and collection from electricity consumers by all the 11 Discos stood at N268.97bn and N185.29bn respectively during the quarter under review, implying a collection efficiency of 68.89 per cent.

 It said the level of collection efficiency indicated that as much as N3.11 out of every N10 worth of energy sold during the second quarter of 2021 remained uncollected from consumers.

“Thus, only a marginal improvement in the collection efficiency is noticeable over the 68.55 per cent recorded in the first quarter 2021,” the NERC stated.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has postponed its decision on strike, saying that consultations are still ongoing.

This was contained in a press statement issued by the union after its National Executive Council meeting.

The meeting held at its Festus Iyayi National Secretariat, University of Abuja, on Saturday, December 18, 2021 to review the level of government’s implementation of the FGN-ASUU Memorandum of Action of December 23, 2020 and other related matters.

In the press statement titled, ‘Enough of blackmail’, signed by ASUU president, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, the lecturers regretted that the Federal Government had turned its back on the plan to set up an inter-ministerial committee to review the draft Renegotiated 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement.

Earlier, ASUU had announced plans to embark on a strike over the Federal Government’s failure to meet its demands.

Apart from the Earned Academic Allowances, ASUU said its demands included the review of the NUC Act to curb the proliferation of universities by state governments who are not funding the existing ones; adoption of the University Transparency Accountability Solutions (UTAS) with concurrent discontinuance of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and distortion in salary payment.

Part of the statement read, “NEC was worried by the spirited efforts of government agents to reduce the demands of ASUU to a regime of intermittent payment of watered-down revitalisation fund and release of distorted and grossly devalued Earned
Academic Allowances.

“ASUU shall not relent in demanding improvement in the welfare and conditions of service of our members. However, we shall resist any attempt to blackmail the union and derail our patriotic struggle for a productive university system by official propaganda founded on tokenism and crumb-sharing.

“NEC concluded that government has failed to satisfactorily address all the issues
raised in the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement and subsequent MoUs and MoAs.

“However, considering the ongoing intervention and consultation efforts, NEC resolved to review the situation at a later date with a view to deciding on the next line of action.”

Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu

The Nigerian Army has denied torturing one Christian Ehima to death in Edo as claimed by the deceased’s mother.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement on Sunday and made available to journalists in Benin, described as misleading the report on social media alleging that troops tortured one Ehima to death in Igbake, Edo State.

The statement read, “While we sympathise with the family of late Christian over this unfortunate incident, it is instructive to put the records in proper perspective, contrary to the misgivings peddled on the social media.

“Incontrovertible evidence indicates that Christian Ehima wandered into a military check point at Wire -Ake in Edo State on the December 10, 2021, without his clothes on, and was halted by soldiers on duty.”

Nwachukwu said upon interrogation, the deceased could not say anything meaningful on where he was coming from or heading, adding that his behaviour was rather weird and indicative of one who was under some sort of influence.

He added, “The Guard Commander, who observed his abnormal behaviour, immediately requested for his phone in an effort to contact any of his relations, friends or associates.

“Shortly afterwards, a call came through to his phone and the caller identified herself as his mother and a police officer and was invited to pick up her son, who was still very agitated and unstable.

“When she was briefed about her son’s observed abnormal behaviour, she attributed it to influence of alcohol but the soldiers maintained that whatever was responsible for Christian’s behaviour at that time was way beyond alcohol.”

Nwachukwu explained that on sighting his mother, his behaviour aggravated while some passers-by were thereafter mobilised to help her take him to the hospita

The incident was recorded both on video and audio, showing the behaviour of Christian Ehima and his mother commending the soldiers for their kind intervention.

“The evidence, including audio recordings of the police officer and her son, are there for all to peruse,” he said.

He expressed surprise that the incident has been falsely reported in the social media without recourse to the reality of what transpired during the incident

He called on the public to disregard what he described as misguided information and an attempt to bring the Army to disrepute.

Recall that there had been report on social media in which Christian’s mother, Ehima Mercy, alleged that her son died as a result of torture in the hands of soldiers.

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Mrs Adejuwon Ogunfuwa, the wife of a site engineer, Ola Ogunfuwa at the collapsed Ikoyi building is demanding answers concerning the whereabouts of her husband.

She said he was neither brought out dead from the rubble of the building nor accounted for in any way since the collapse of the 21-storey building on November 1, 2021.

An Abuja-based radiologist, Dr Obialo Ibe, and his yet-to-be-identified friend, have been reportedly murdered in his residence in the Games Village area of the Federal Capital Territory.

The victims were said to have been murdered last Wednesday between 8am and 11am.

There are, however, two accounts of the incident.

One of the accounts stated that the victims were murdered by some yet-to-be-identified persons, while another account accused the slain Ibe’s house help of killing him and his friend.

One Anthony Ogbo on Facebook, quoting Ibe’s younger sister, Adanna, said the slain doctor was slated to leave for the United States of America with his friend the day they were murdered.

He added that they were stabbed several times in the chest and abdomen while Ibe’s new car, luggage and some documents were taken away.

He wrote, “Obi was ready to leave for the airport. His friend came to pick him up. Adanna left for work. She later called her brother to wish him a safe journey, but could not reach him

“After several attempts, she then called the house boy. The house boy said he left Obi at home to go out for an errand. Adanna got worried and went back home.

“On reaching home, the gate was locked from outside with a new padlock. She called the house boy again, who told her where to find the new key. 

“She got into the house and found lifeless Obi and his friend in a pool of their blood. They both have been stabbed several times in the chest and abdomen. His five-month-old car, travelling luggage, plus documents gone.”

Also, a presidential candidate of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party in 2019, Tope Fausa, on Facebook, said, “Dr Obialor Ibe, one of the best consultant radiologists in Nigeria, and his friend, were gruesomely murdered at his Abuja home on Wednesday by unidentified individual/s. He was supposed to be travelling to America that morning.

“He was a very passionate radiologist who had a remarkable interest in paediatric abdominal radiology.”

However, a man who claimed to be the doctor’s neighbour, accused the house help of poisoning and later stabbing him and his friend.

He said, “It is believed that the house boy poisoned the doctor and his friend, hacked them to death, and stole his SUV, cash, and took off. I heard that he was arrested at the Nigeria-Niger border.”

The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Josephine Adeh, could not be reached for comments as calls to her line were not answered.

She had yet to respond to a text message sent to her line as of the time of filing this report.