News headlines for the 28th of March 2021.

2023: Igbo leaders meet in Owerri, initiate move for Presidency

• Ohanaeze Ndigbo Elders Council, on Saturday, met in Owerri, and mandated the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Professor George Obiozor, to begin immediately consultation with other ethnic groups in Nigeria, in order to actualize Nigeria president of Igbo extraction in 2023.

• This decision was contained in a communique they issued to newsmen after their meeting at the Government House in Owerri. The meeting with Governor Hope Uzodimma as the host, alongside his counterpart, Ebonyi state governor, Dave Umahi as well as representatives of other governors.
• They argued that 2023 would be the turn of the Igbo to occupy the plum position of the presidency, just as they warned some Igbo politicians to desist from speaking against zoning.
• Other dignitaries at the meeting included former governors of Imo state, Ikedi Ohakim, former governor of Abia state, currently a Senator, Theodore Orji, as well as former and serving members of the National Assembly members, first republic minister, Mbazulike Amaechi.

Police launch manhunt for kidnappers of RCCG members 

• The police in Kaduna state have launched a manhunt with a view to arresting the criminals who abducted about eight members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, on Friday.

• The Police Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Jalige, told journalists that the command was working closely with the leadership of the RCCG in the state to ascertain the actual number of those that were abducted, with a view to rescuing them alive.
• Meanwhile, the public relations officer of the  Church in Kaduna province, Alao Joseph told Journalists that the church members were kidnapped by the bandits at about 7 pm on Friday night along Kachia road.

INEC set to shortlist electronic voting machine suppliers

• As part of the preparations towards the anticipated launch of electronic voting in forthcoming elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission says it has commenced the analysis of the various electronic voting machines showcased by over 50 companies.
• It added that it was looking forward to the amendment of the legal framework that would enable electronic voting, noting that it remained committed to introducing electronic voting machines in the electoral process to replace the manual system that had put the commission under heavy logistics burden, including the printing of electoral papers and hiring of thousands of ad hoc staff, among others.
• The INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, disclosed these in an interview on Friday. He explained that the commission was currently attending to procurement issues to the extent allowed by the COVID-19 protocols.
• INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, had said during the 2021 budget defence before the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters on November 4, 2020 that the commission would deploy the electronic voting machines very soon, possibly beginning with the Anambra governorship poll scheduled to hold in November this year.

Insecurity: 36 Assembly speakers demand state police

• Speakers of Houses of Assembly under the auspices of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria have decried the deteriorating state of insecurity in the country, saying that establishment of state police is the best way to tackle it.
• This was part of the communiqué issued at the end of the body’s three-day 1st Quarter General Meeting held in Bauchi, with 30 states represented.
• The Chairman of the body, Abubakar Suleiman, who read the communiqué at the end of the meeting, said the issue of insecurity topped the agenda of the meeting.
• He noted that a committee had been set up to dialogue with the association with a view to resolving the lingering issues that led to the industrial action.