• Collage of President Trump, and President Tinubu

Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has expressed doubts about the letter United States, President Donald Trump, reportedly sent as an endorsement of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Frank, who described the letter as a routine diplomatic correspondence acknowledging security cooperation between Nigeria and the United States, dared the Presidency to publish the letter, insisting that any genuine communication from the American President should bear the official White House seal and President Trump’s signature.

“The letter is not from the White House. If it doesn’t have the White House seal and the signature of the President of the United States, it appears dubious at best,” Frank said in a statement.

He questioned the authenticity of the document being celebrated by the Federal Government, maintaining that even if the letter exists, it should not be interpreted as political support for Tinubu or his administration.

“The letter only commended Nigeria for partnering with the United States in addressing insecurity. That is the only reason President Trump may have written it.

It was not an endorsement of President Tinubu’s leadership, his economic policies or his administration. It did not say the Trump administration is backing President Tinubu or supporting him for any election in Nigeria.

The Presidency is only trying to change the narrative by presenting it as something more than it is,” he said.

Credit: Daily Trust

The former Lagos State Governor and former Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, has ruled out contesting for presidency.

Fashola, made the declaration during an appearance on TVC News, on Wednesday.

Fielding question on if he would contest for president of Nigeria, he replied, “No” emphasising that he is content with his current role at home and would rather allow history to judge his public service.

Reflecting on his more than two decades in public service, the former minister described his journey as an extraordinary privilege.

“My journey has been an unimaginable privilege, and I hope that it, in some way, inspires another generation about the possibilities of this country,” he said.

He noted that Nigeria also has countless stories of people rising from humble beginnings to positions of prominence.

Source: TVC

INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan has said that the Commission was considering a full audit of its electoral systems and a mock presidential election to test the readiness of its processes and technology ahead of the 2027 polls.

Amupitan disclosed this on Thursday while receiving the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr Richard Montgomery, during a courtesy visit to the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

Amupitan said that the proposals, which were under consideration by the Commission, were informed by concerns arising from the 2023 general election, particularly over the reliability of election technology.

According to him, although the proposed exercises were not included in INEC’s budget, the Commission would explore ways to implement them because of their potential to enhance the credibility of the elections.

The INEC chairman said that the initiatives were part of broader efforts to improve technological reliability, including the continued deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), as well as an ongoing review of the Commission’s cybersecurity architecture covering system redundancy.