All 133 Catholic cardinals eligible to vote for a new pope have arrived in Rome, the Vatican confirmed today, ahead of the conclave beginning this week.

They will enter into seclusion in the Sistine Chapel at 4:30 pm (1430 GMT) on Wednesday, voting in secret until one of them secures the required two-thirds majority to become the next head of the Roman Catholic Church, reports AFP.

Summoned following the death of Pope Francis on April 21, the group — representing 70 countries across five continents — is the largest and most diverse conclave in the Church’s history.

At stake is the direction of the Catholic Church, a 2,000-year-old institution with huge global influence but which is battling to adapt to the modern world and recover its reputation after the scandal of widespread child sex abuse by priests.

The 133 so-called “Princes of the Church” who will vote — all those aged under 80, minus two who are absent for health reasons — will gather on Wednesday afternoon under the frescoed splendour of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican.

Voting once that day and four times a day thereafter until a pope is chosen, they will stay at the nearby Santa Marta guesthouse but are forbidden from contacting the outside world until they have made their choice.

They will inform the waiting world of their progress by burning their ballots and sending up smoke — black if no candidate has reached the two-thirds majority of votes, or white if they have a winner.

This morning, technicians installed red curtains on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, where the new pontiff will make his first appearance.

At issue is whether the new pontiff will follow the popular Argentine pontiff’s progressive line or whether the Holy See will pivot towards a more conservative traditionalist leader.

Francis, an energetic reformer from Buenos Aires, ran the Church for 12 years and appointed 80 percent of the current cardinal electors.

But experts caution they may not choose someone in his model, with many warning there could be surprises.

Vatican affairs specialist Marco Politi told our correspondent that, given the unknowns, the conclave could be “the most spectacular in 50 years”.

‘Calm The Waters’

Cardinals met this morning for the latest in a series of preparatory meetings, so-called general congregations, and will gather again in the afternoon.

All cardinals are invited to these, not just those eligible to vote in the conclave, taking the opportunity to discuss the issues that will face Francis’s successor.

“Nobody campaigns, for crying out loud. That would be extraordinarily stupid and indiscreet, and improper and counterproductive,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York.

“But you just want to get to know folks, and it works well,” he said on his own podcast.

Among the pilgrims and sightseers who gathered in the square on Monday, opinions varied widely about who could or should take over.

“Maybe more of Pope Francis than Pope Benedict,” said German visitor Aurelius Lie, 36.“

As long as he’s not too conservative (and) influenced by modern political leaders — (Giorgia) Meloni, (Donald) Trump,” he said, referring to the Italian prime minister and the US president.

“Maybe the Church will be thinking: ‘We need a tough pope now to deal with these people.’ But their terms will end in a couple of years.

”But Canadian priest Justin Pulikunnel did not hide his frustration at the direction Francis tried to take the Church, saying he personally sought a return to a more traditional leadership.

“Well, I hope and I pray that the new pope will kind of be a source of unity in the Church and kind of calm the waters down after almost a dozen years of destabilisation and ambiguity,” he said yesterday.

“Changing World’

The conclave begins on Wednesday afternoon and could continue for days, weeks or even months — although both Francis and Benedict XVI — who was pope from 2005 until his resignation in 2013 — were elected within two days.

Italy’s Pietro Parolin, who was secretary of state under Francis, is one of the favourites, as is Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Among the so-called “papabili” are also Luis Antonio Tagle from the Philippines and Hungarian conservative Peter Erdo.

But many more names have been discussed, and just like when Francis — then an Argentinian known as Jorge Bergoglio — was picked in 2013, a surprise candidate could emerge.

Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako of Iraq told reporters before today’s meetings that he wanted “a pastor, a father who preserves the unity of the Church and the integrity of the faith but who also knows the challenges of today”.

“The world is always changing. Every day there is news. The Pope must read the signs of the times to have the right answer and not be closeted in his palace.”

Protesters in Abuja have stormed the headquarters of Guaranty Trust Bank to demand the release of social media influencer Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan.

The demonstrators, who gathered in large numbers on Monday, chanted “#FreeVDM” while holding placards with inscriptions such as “Activism is not a sin”, “VDM is the masses’ liberator”, and “VDM has committed no offence”.

Recall that VeryDarkMan was recently arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over allegations of cyberstalking.

The arrest has sparked outrage online and raised questions about the bank’s alleged complicity in what critics describe as a targeted crackdown.

According to his legal representative, activist-lawyer Deji Adeyanju, VeryDarkMan was ambushed by EFCC operatives inside the GTBank premises.

Denying the claim and releasing CCTV footage, the bank stated that the social media influencer was not picked up on its premises, and urged that further investigations be conducted.

In the video, VDM is seen leaving the banking hall and heading towards the car park moments before his arrest.

However, the footage does not capture the actual arrest, most likely because the security cameras did not cover that specific area outside the bank.

Recall that in May 2024, he was arraigned at the Federal High Court in Abuja on five counts of cyberstalking.

The charges stemmed from alleged online harassment of the Nigeria Police Force and Nollywood actresses Iyabo Ojo and Tonto Dikeh.

He pleaded not guilty and was remanded in custody until his bail hearing.

Later in November 2024, he faced fresh charges of impersonation before an Abuja Chief Magistrate’s Court.

Prosecutors accused him of unlawfully dressing as a police officer and presenting himself as one.

He again pleaded not guilty and was granted bail in the sum of ₦2 million.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has released a comprehensive statistical breakdown of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, results.

The breakdown offers a full picture of the performances by Nigerian candidates in the examination conducted across the country.

According to JAMB, out of 1,955,069 candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, over 1.5 million of them scored less than 200 in the exam.

It, however, announced that 4756 candidates scored above 320, 7658 candidates scored between 300 and 319.

In the statement accompanying the data, the Board said that 40,247 underage candidates were permitted to demonstrate their exceptional abilities.

JAMB further stated that only 467 of these candidates (1.16%) achieved scores that meet the threshold for exceptional ability as defined for the UTME, with their performance in the subsequent three stages still pending.