Digital surge: 69,376 Nigerians pre-register to vote online in 7hrs - ITREALMS

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The nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) kicked off with a remarkable digital surge, as a staggering 69,376 Nigerians successfully pre-registered to vote online within the first seven hours of the portal going live on Monday, August 18, 2025, reports ITREALMS.

This impressive figure underscores a growing embrace of technology in Nigeria’s electoral process.

Oke Ogun PDP stakeholders pass vote of confidence in Makinde - ITREALMS

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Leaders and stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 10 Local Government Areas of Oke Ogun in Oyo North Senatorial District have passed a vote of confidence in the Oyo State governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde.

This was as they unanimously declared their loyalty and commitment to the party and the leadership of Governor Makinde, noting that all efforts would be made to ensure that the party continues to record success in all local governments of Oke Ogun and the state at large.

Your Voice Matters: Why eligible citizens must vote - ITREALMS

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Voting is an essential aspect of democratic governance, as it is the only way through which the people can exercise their power to choose their leaders and shape their future. Nigeria, a country blessed with abundant human and natural resources, is poised for another democratic exercise as her citizens head to the polls to elect their leaders. It is time to get it right with a leader that will ensure that ALL citizens partake of the country's blessedness.

As we approach election day, every eligible citizen must come out and vote. Voting is not just a civic duty; it is also a right and a privilege that must be exercised. Every vote counts, and every vote matters in determining who becomes the leader of our great country.

Ebeledike to Ndigbo Lagos: Your vote, your voice - ITREALMS

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The President of the Association of Anambra State Development Unions (AASDU) in Lagos, Chief Sir Amechi Ebeledike, has charged ndi-Anambra, and the entire Ndigbo in the state on the imperative of ensuring they vote at the Saturday presidential elections, reports ITREALMS.

Ebeledike who was speaking on upholding civic responsibilities, noted that the life of every citizen depends on the choice they make with their votes.

Eze @65: Urges Nigerians to vote right - ITREALMS

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The erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has called on Nigerians to deploy cognitive orientation and subject candidates to extensive scrutiny before arriving at any choice for the various elective positions ahead of 2023 elections, reports ITREALMS.

Eze who turned 65, on January 1, 2023, in a new year message available to ITREALMS, said a proper check on the records and antecedents of each of the candidates vying for public offices in the scheduled 2023 elections will help electorates take informed decisions that would improve the fortunes of the people and place the country on a better pedestal to enable her take the necessary strides that befit her endorsements.

Sanusi charges Nigerians to vote beyond 'emilokan' in 2023 - ITREALMS

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The Former Emir of Kano, and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Muhammadu Sanusi has urged Nigerians to vote beyond ‘emilokan’ in 2023 general elections.

Emilokan in Yoruba language means 'its my turn'.

JYEI urges Nigerians to vote responsibly - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

A Lagos-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Jeunesse Youth Empowerment Initiative (JYEI), has called on Nigerians, especially the youth, to “vote responsibly and bear in mind that the individual Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) is a Trust vested in its holder by fellow citizens” reports ITREALMS.

In a statement released in Lagos by its Communications Lead, Ms Victorine Nyamsi, JYEI said: “The PVC remains a trust that should be used responsibly by every voting adult as the consequences of its use affect all Nigerians, not just the individual voter alone. Therefore, every holder is an important stakeholder whose conduct should not be underestimated.”

According to the statement, it is surprising that despite an overwhelming number of people, especially young people who actively engage political issues on social media, the level of voter-apathy and low voter-turnout remained a worrisome trend since the previous elections.

“It is even more worrisome that despite the increasing level of awareness especially on social media, rather than reduce, vote-buying has taken new forms, thus becoming a parasite that has continuously threatened the credibility of elections in Nigeria,” the Organisation added.

JYEI therefore called on the youth not to restrict their political participation to social media rhetoric alone but to also engage in and involve themselves in the actual voting processes and do so in a responsible and rational manner, saying: “If you refuse to participate, then you have left your fate for the next four years to be decided by others however they wish and you therefore lose the moral right to challenge the outcome.”

“Many young people regard the Election Day as yet another holiday, and this is wrong. Rather, the Day should be seen as an opportunity to directly contribute one’s quota in deciding the fate of the Country and the citizens for the next four years,” JYEI added.

JYEI also urged all Nigerians to focus on the National Assembly and the State Houses of Assembly just as they focus on the Executive arms. It said that the members of the legislative houses wield so much power, authority and influence on governments, yet, in terms of scrutiny, they receive less than deserved attention from the voters.

Finally, JYEI called on every Nigeria to remain tolerant and peaceful in their conducts and relations during this period, cautioning that every citizen should be mindful of their words irrespective of their political leanings.

Uj. N. Dominic/Editor

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You can vote with any finger says INEC - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has declared that voters could actually vote with any of the fingers, insisting that the ballot papers are not finger sensitive, reports ITREALMS.

INEC advised that what is important is that the finger does not cross to the next box due to the number of political which has brought about reduction in the box, stressing that any error resulting in voting for two parties, would invalidate the vote.

“A voter can use any finger to vote but should ensure that his or her mark is clear and placed inside the box of the political party of his or her choice and does not stray into another box,” INEC cautioned.

Responding to what has been making news round, INEC via its Twitter handle @inecnigeria, denied ever insisting that voters must vote with a particular figure, maintaining that the ballot papers are not finger sensitive.

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How should Nigerian Leftists vote? - ITREALMS

WeekendCommentary@ITREALMS:

We begin with a proposition which may be framed this way: “The question as to how Nigerian Leftists should vote in the 2019 general elections will not arise if there are in existence, and participating in the elections, political parties that are serious, clearly Leftist, ideologically anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist and categorical on each of the burning questions before the Nigerian people, before the country, and before the nation”.

The proposition is enclosed in quotation marks—though it is new and comes from me—merely to indicate that it is fundamental at this critical point in Nigeria’s political history. My main references here are my published essays in the last 12 months on the need and the possibility of a resurgence of the Nigerian Left.

Our first task here is to try to explain some of the key terms of our proposition which, though loaded in form, is actually very simple and straight forward given the references I have just cited. This first task will be followed by an explanatory note on the proposition as a whole.

To appreciate what I mean by “seriousness” in the context of our discussion it is sufficient to look at the recently published lists of the country’s officially-recognised political parties and presidential candidates. Each list carries about 60 names. I describe most of these parties and candidates as “unserious” not because they are not committed to whatever causes they profess but because after “weighing” themselves against reality, they decided to ignore a host of modest, realistic, effective and rewarding modes and forms of electoral struggle and chose to dissipate their energy in forming legally-registerable political parties and presenting their own candidates for the coming presidential, legislative and governorship contests. If this position is correct in general, it is more correct for Leftist formations that desire not just a change of government but a change of social order.

There are three other terms that require explanatory notes: ideological condition of being “clearly Leftist”; concreteness, definitiveness and clarity of manifesto; and “ideologically anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist”. The first can be summarized as commitment to the massive redeployment and redistribution of the nation’s resources to the working and toiling masses, the poor and the “rejects of life”; the second is “the people’s manifesto” which has been one of the central elements of my campaign and has virtually been presented in my published essays of the past 12 months; and the third is the requirement that the general character, proclamation and “body language”— if not programme content—of political Leftism in Nigeria of 2018 should be anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist.

With this extensive “glossary” at the back of our minds what our central proposition is saying may be broken down as follows: If there are, in existence, Leftist formations which satisfy the elementary general conditions that are embodied in the proposition, we ought to simply urge Nigerian Leftists to vote for them and their candidates where practically possible. If there are more than one formation in this category competing for a particular position, then Leftists should apply further (revolutionary) criteria to make a choice.

If, however, there is no Leftist formation satisfying the elementary general condition—which means that Nigerian Leftists and the popular masses are facing non-Leftist parties of varying sizes, strengths and colorations—Leftists may apply the two age-long dialectical criteria of choice which may here be framed as questions: Under what possible regime will the Nigerian Left be most able to grow stronger as an independent movement? And under what possible regime will the popular masses achieve wider and deeper freedoms and greater material and spiritual well-being?

For the avoidance of doubt, and for emphasis, the second criterion may be broken down into: One: Massive redeployment and redistribution of resources to the popular masses in a way that leads to rapid, radical, substantial and measurable amelioration of the present harsh conditions under which the popular masses live and reproduce their lives. Two: Introduction of a new structure of power and governance which will enhance people’s power and popular democracy. This new structure is conceived by factions of the ruling class as fiscal federalism, devolution of power or geopolitical restructuring. But I have conceived and presented it as “restructuring under popular democracy” or “popular-democratic restructuring.” Three: Democratization of the state. (Here it is important to note that what we are employing is the language of “electoral struggle” and not that of “call to arms”!).

The attributes which we have, in this piece, prescribed to Nigerian Leftists as minimum general conditions for the adoption of a political party for voting purposes are abstractions from elements of a draft platform (people’s manifesto) which we had earlier—in a series of published essays over the last 12 months—prescribed for the establishment of a strongly-rooted and substantial organization of the Nigerian Left, or a Leftist “organization of a new type”.

The main difference is that we are not, and should not be imposing, too rigorous conditions on the strategy, tactics, methods and internal regime of a political party if we are only considering it for voting purposes and not for membership. It is because this new organization of the Left—signaling a resurgence—has not emerged that we are proposing conditions for adopting (existing) Leftist or non-Leftist parties for voting purposes. When the organization of our expectation emerges the debate of what parties to adopt or vote for ceases and direct struggle for power genuinely begins.

In an essay entitled In this 20^th year of “democracy” and published on June 13, 2018, I proposed a scenario for the emergence of a Leftist “organization of a new type.” I re-present the relevant segment: “A small ad-hoc group of Nigerian Leftists—from the ranks of revolutionary Marxists—should volunteer and select themselves and assume the revolutionary responsibility of convening an all-Nigeria “unity meeting” of Leftists (Marxists, socialists and radical democrats). The ad-hoc group should present the following to the meeting: a draft people’s manifesto, a draft memorandum on participation in electoral politics, a draft newsletter, a provisional coordinating and documentation centre, a draft “unifying name” and a draft programme and structure”. Every other thing will follow from that meeting.

In the absence of this “organization of a new type”, how do we advise the masses (that is, beyond hard-core Leftists) as the campaigns begin? In the first place, political sense dictates that we advise and encourage the masses to exercise their right to vote. In the second place, the irreducible need for political consistency and credibility dictates that we popularize the conditions we have prescribed to the Leftists. But in doing this we also need to reduce the insistence. For the masses are not being mobilized for a national examination or war of survival! The range of choices before the masses—in the absence of Leftist intervention—eloquently says so. Only for Leftists is it imperative to apprehend the possible dynamics of the current situation in the country. And this situation goes beyond campaigns for the 2019 elections.

To conclude: In my piece, Differences in the Nigerian Left of October 4, 2018, I acknowledged that major and minor differences do exist and have existed for long in the movement. This is an objective fact of history. I also know that a new organization of the Nigerian Left which hopefully will emerge on the platform we have been articulating will not embrace all tendencies and all formations in the movement. The hope, however, is that if the resurgence project is pursued with seriousness, honesty and dedication, the emerging formation will pull together most of the virile and truly Leftist formations and individuals in the Nigerian Left. Only then will the struggle enter a new phase.

*Contributed by Edwin Madunagu, mathematician and journalist, writes from Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.

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2019: Ayo Obe urges Nigerians to register and vote - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Former president, Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Ayo Obe has urged Nigerians to register in order to cast their vote in the forthcoming 2019 elections, reports ITRealms.

Obe made this call weekend reminding Nigerians that if you do not vote, you are very likely not to exercise your franchise.

The latest Enough-Is-Enough eNewsletter, made available to ITRealms at the weekend, Obe, who is a renowned legal practitioner, wondered what any Nigerian has to lose they refused to register and vote.

“Your vote will not count if you don’t register to cast it. Your vote will not count if, having registered, you don’t cast it. So what do you really have to lose if you register and vote?” she said.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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FG stimulates economy with N350 billion capital vote

ITRealms:

In sticking with earlier promise on capital projects, the Federal Government has said it stimulated the economy with the immediate release of the sum of N350 billion capital votes to tackle the economic crisis currently facing the Nigeria, reports ITRealms.

Affirming this to ITRealms, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun disclosed this during a press meeting in Abuja on Friday, saying the current administration is not backing down on its decision to stimulate the economy.

“With the N350 billion to be released, next week, the federal government would have released the total sum of N770 billion for capital projects this year, having released N420 billion thus far in 2016,” she said. explaining that the bulk of the money so far released went into on-going projects, especially works, defence, transportation, interior, power and agriculture.

In addition, the minister disclosed that the administration was working on raising $1 billion Eurobond, stressing that the proceeds for this would be used only for capital projects.

Giving further clarifications on the Eurobond issue, Director-General, Debt Management Office (DMO), Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, said, “We intend to raise the money before the year ends. In terms of the progress made so far, more than five weeks ago we put out advertisements for Request For Proposals in local and international media, following due process so that we can allow transaction partners who are interested to compete. 

“The closing date of the RFPs is September 19, 2016 and immediately after that we will execute the process of vetting and selection. “We have a directive to make sure we use minimum time to conclude all these activities. So we assure you that we are going to cut the time because of the emergency situation. Before the middle of December, we will have the money. We are very focused on the fact that these monies are needed urgently to turn around the economy and we are working on that," Adeosun said.

On the issue of bidding process and open procurement, the minister explained that what is needed is a balance between speed and transparency, saying that is why we are engaging the National Assembly to support our request to truncate the process.

“We are already talking to members of the National Assembly, explaining to them why this is necessary so that when we release money, it is not just going to be sitting in the TSA account but it will actually be going down into contractors and appropriately utilised,” she said.

Ayo Omidele/GEE

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Three ways to vote @Big Brother

Cost of SMS on Big Brother Africa

Viewers of the popular Big Brother reality show now have three chances to vote for their favourites and against those they want evicted.

ITRealms gathered that voting usually opens immediately after Monday and closes at 06:00 Central Africa Time (CAT) on Sunday morning.These three ways to vote to keep your favourite housemate in Big Brother: The Chase include via the world wide web (www), Short Messaging Service (SMS) or mobile site.

Voting viewers have the chance of winning amazing prizes in the process, such as DStv High Definition (HD) Personal Video Recorder (PVR’s) and DStv Walkas.

Further, ITRealms  findings showed that to vote via web or mobile sire, viewers are to go to the official Big Brother website,  www.bigbrotherafrica.com, log in, click ‘Vote’ and then click the appropriate button for the housemate you’d like to keep in the house.

“You may vote once per hour,” officials say.

And to vote via SMS, send the word VOTE, followed by the name of the housemate you would like to keep in the game, to the number for your country below.

Also, SMS’s are charged at specified network tariffs in the various countries, even as Value Added Service (VAS) rates apply, but views can vote 100 times by SMS per telephone number during each voting period.

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