The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says that as at Tuesday night, 19 political parties have submitted the names of their candidates for the Edo governorship election.
Factional Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. Ali-Modu Sheriff, on Monday gave conditions that must be met by the Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee for peace to reign.
He said the only condition for peace to reign in the party is if the caretaker committee led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi resign, because there is no place for the committee in the party’s constitution, therefore should be dissolved.
He stated this in Abuja while hosting a delegation of party members from the 17 local governments in Abia State.
Senator Sheriff had earlier at a peace meeting organised to resolve the crisis in the party ruled out the possibility of truce outside the court verdict, insisting the committee must go.
Instead, he proposed that he should be allowed to nominate a chairman, and ten persons into the new convention committee.
“People are very interested in our party and how the impasse will be settled before the Port Harcourt convention which was aborted by a court order,” he said.
“Yes, we have met and issues were discussed but all the issues I put forward for them was for the Makarfi-led caretaker committee to resign.
“It is an aberration as far as our party constitution is concern. I told them that I am not ready to be a permanent chairman but I want the party to be placed in proper stead.
“If he resigns tomorrow, I will ask the members of my NWC whose tenure still lasts to 2018, including myself, to set up a convention committee in Abuja and put respected members into the committee.
“In that convention, I will give away my mandate, which does not expire until 2018.
“If the leaders of our party feel that we can find a solution without exhausting the court process, then I am open to it; we can find a political solution.
“I have given the people the opportunity to see that Sheriff is not the problem. The problem is that some people want to make the party their personal property and that will not happen under Sheriff.”, he said.
The Nigerian Army says a number of its troops are missing after they ran into an ambush by Boko Haram terrorists in Borno state.
In a statement, the Army explains that the attack occurred while the troops were returning to their defensive locations after operations to clear remnants of the insurgents at Guro Gongon village and its environs.
It adds that the operation led to the destruction of the terrorists’ makeshift camps and recovery of various weapons including an anti-aircraft gun, an armored personnel carrier, as well as motorcycles used by the militants.
Unfortunately, 19 soldiers and 3 civilian JTF members were said to have been wounded during the encounter.
The Army has vowed to ensure that everyone involved in the operation is accounted for and has dispatched Special Forces Personnel to locate the missing troops.
1. Aliko Dangote was born on the 10th of April 1957 to Mariya Dantata and Mohammed Dangote, but he grew up with his maternal grandfather, Sanusi Dantata.
2. Even though Aliko was born into a wealthy family, he was enterprising as a little lad. He would buy packs of sweet and sell them to make some money.
3. Forbes ranks him as the richest man in Africa and the 67th richest person in the world.
4. The Dangote group was established as a small trading firm in 1977, but today it is a multi-trillion Naira conglomerate with many of its operations in Benin, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria. It is the largest industrial group in Nigeria.
5. In 2009 Dangote was honoured as the leading provider of employment in the construction industry of Nigeria.
6. The Dangote group is the main supplier of sugar to soft drinks and confectionaries companies as well as breweries in Nigeria, supplying about 70% of the total market’s use.
7. Aliko Dangote is a serial monogamist- he doesn’t keep more than one woman at a time. He’s been married four times, divorced three times and he has 15 children.
8. He has escaped death by plane crash three times. First in 1983, in 1996 which caused his brother his life and 2008 aboard a one way flight to Angola.
9. Aliko Dangote was named as Forbes Africa Person of the year in 2014.
Russian track and field athletes will remain banned from the Olympics following claims the country ran a state-sponsored doping programme.
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and 68 Russian athletes attempted to overturn the suspension, implemented by the body that governs world athletics.
But the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) has ruled it can stand.
A handful of Russian athletes could still compete as neutrals at the Rio Games, which start on 5 August.
"It's sad but rules are rules," said Olympic 100m and 200m champion Usain Bolt, who is targeting more gold medals in Rio.
He said it was important to send a strong message to the dopers.
"Doping violations in track and field is getting really bad," said the Jamaican, 29. "If you cheat or go or against the rules, this will scare a lot of people."
However, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva - one of the 68 to appeal to Cas - said the ruling was "a blatant political order", while the Russian Foreign Ministry called it a a "crime against sport".
Isinbayeva, the 2012 gold medallist, 34, told the Tass news agency: "Thank you all for this funeral for athletics."
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said it was "pleased Cas has supported its position", adding that the judgement had "created a level playing field for athletes".
IAAF president Lord Coe added: "This is not a day for triumphant statements. I didn't come into this sport to stop athletes from competing.
"Beyond Rio, the IAAF taskforce will continue to work with Russia to establish a clean safe environment for its athletes so that its federation and team can return to international recognition and competition."
Separately, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is considering calls to ban all Russian competitors from the Rio Games following a second report into state-sponsored doping. It found evidence of Russian urine samples being "manipulated" across the "vast majority" of summer and winter Olympic sports from late 2011 to August 2015.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), which commissioned both independent reports into Russian doping, called on other sports to "consider their responsibilities".
Wada president Craig Reedie said the Cas verdict was about creating a "level playing field", not "punishing some athletes for the actions of others".
Some Russian athletes could compete in Rio as neutrals if they meet a number of criteria, including being repeatedly tested outside their homeland.
At least two - 800m runner and doping whistleblower Yuliya Stepanova and US-based long jumper Darya Klishina - have gone down that path.
Now the ruling by a three-person Cas panel has cleared the way for others.
Cas said the ROC could still nominate athletes to compete as neutrals. However, a Cas spokesman said the panel had expressed concerns that this left "no possibility" for athletes to comply with the criteria.
Who was on the Cas panel?
Three lawyers from Italy, Britain and the United States, widely regarded as amongst the most experienced judges on the court's list of around 400 approved arbitrators.
The chairman was Milan-based Luigi Fumagalli, who also sat on the panel which upheld Fifa's four-month ban on Uruguay's Luis Suarez for biting Italian defender Georgio Chiellini opponent at the 2014 World Cup.
Retired judge Robert Reid, from England, has chaired disciplinary committees for the Premier League and sat in judgment of Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt's failed appeal to Cas against a ban for fixing.
Finally, Jeffrey Benz from Los Angeles is a former legal adviser to the United States Olympic Committee.
Why were Russian athletes banned?
Russia was suspended from track and field events by the IAAF in November 2015 following the publication of an independent World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report that showed a culture of widespread, state-sponsored doping.
Sports minister Vitaly Mutko apologised for Russia's failure to catch the cheats but stopped short of admitting the scandal had been state-sponsored.
However, another Wada-commissioned report delivered earlier this week - the McLaren report - contained more damaging allegations and suggested senior figures in Russia's sports ministry were complicit in an organised cover-up.
The report implicated the majority of Olympic sports in the cover-up and claimed that Russian secret service agents were involved in swapping positive urine samples for clean ones.
Following Monday's publication of the McLaren report, the IOC faced calls to ban all Russian competitors from the 2016 Olympics and will hold an second emergency meeting on Sunday to decide its course of action.
