President Muhammadu Buhari, Thursday, 28th April 2022, advised those planning to rig the 2023 general elections to perish the thought, vowing to use every legitimate means to protect the votes of Nigerians.

The President made this known at an Iftar gathering with members of the Diplomatic Corps at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

He said. ‘‘Those planning to rig the forthcoming elections should think twice because I intend to resolutely protect and defend the sacred will of the Nigerian people, to be expressed through the ballot box.’’

Buhari, who equally cautioned against foreign interference in the forthcoming elections, stated, ‘‘As you are all aware, the tenure of this Administration ends on 29th May, 2023. Typical of election years all over the world, the tempo of political activities is often high.

‘‘That is the nature of democracy. I am committed to bequeathing a stronger culture of credible elections to Nigeria than I met.

‘‘As Nigeria goes through this trajectory, I urge our friends in the global community, represented by you the Diplomatic Corps, to adopt a positive role that reinforces the doctrine of respect for our internal affairs and respect for facts and devoid of preconceived notions and bias.’’

Addressing the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the President called for greater consideration for humanitarian conditions in the affected areas in the ongoing mayhem, warning the conflict would get worse if an immediate resolution is not found.

‘‘The war has lasted too long, cost so much and hurt too many people, well beyond the immediate theatres. The rest of the world is progressively facing the impact of the conflict and this will certainly get worse if an immediate resolution is not found, not least in the area of food security.”

The President welcomed the recent initiative of United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Gutteres, to visit Moscow and Kyiv, commending his efforts in search of a ceasefire, as a prelude to other enduring solutions.

‘‘The United Nations must continue to actively lead the way for engagements that could ultimately unlock peace through diplomacy,’’ he said.

The President urged the world, especially the Muslim community, to use the solemn and rewarding month of Ramadan, and especially the then last days of the fast, to intensify prayers for de-escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and for the return of peace to the world.

He apprised members of the international community on some of the critical issues that were currently on the front burner of his Administration’s agenda and spirited efforts in handling them.

‘‘We continue to make steady progress on the daunting tasks of combating insecurity; fighting corruption; diversifying the economy; promoting good governance; and containing the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘‘Despite the many challenges we faced, and continue to face, we have instituted measures to plug leakages, improve the economy and enhance the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

‘‘These include: Renewal of vital infrastructure, including rail and roads; Implementation of the N2.3 trillion Economic Sustainability Plan to create jobs and provide support to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises; and Launch of the National Development Plan (2021-2025) to spur economic growth, leverage science, technology and innovation.

‘‘Other measures include: Establishment of the Office of the Senior Special Adviser to the President on SDGs with the responsibility for ensuring coherence between development policies, plans and strategies;,

‘‘Launch, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, of the Nigeria Sustainable Development Goals Implementation Plan (2020-2030), to prioritise and mainstream the SDGs into their medium and long-term development policies and plans.” he landed.

In regard to the impending 2023 general elections in Nigeria, President Buhari may have spoken well on how his administration intends to protect the people’s votes via safeguarding the ballot boxes, but it doesn’t stop at that.

He is requested by all concerned to walk the talk. This can only be possible if he carries out all modalities to ensure that every relevant authority as regards the elections is truly involved in the awaited national ritual.

Hence, he must go the extra mile towards ensuring that only the needful is done as the journey progresses.

There is a wild trend of videos of girls having sexual intercourse with dogs in the Lekki area of Lagos state in exchange for money. The report (although unverified) stated that the girls are paid N1.5m to have sex with the dogs for the viewing pleasure of the dog owners.

Having sexual intercourse with animals is not a new thing in Nigeria, there have always been reported cases of some men caught making out with animals and previous cases of women making out with dogs and snakes.

Just Last year, a young boy was arrested by Oyo state’s security network agency (Amotekun) for having sexual intercourse with a calf.

A 25-old-man was also arrested by the police in Jigawa state in September of last year for making out with a goat in the Gwaram Local Government Area of the state.

Also, in 2014 An Upper Area Court in the Kuje area council of the Federal Capital Territory sentenced a 20-year-old tailor to one-year imprisonment for having sexual intercourse with a goat.

These and many other reported and unreported cases show that bestiality is not new in Nigerian society.

Is Bestiality a crime in Nigeria as of today?

Bestiality is the sexual intercourse between a person and an animal.

Section 214(2) of the criminal code provides:

“Any person who has carnal knowledge of an animal is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.”

On the other hand, Section 284 of the penal code also provides:

“Whoever has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with a man, woman, or any animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of which may extend to fourteen years and shall also be liable to fine.”

This section seeks to punish all forms of penetrative sex generally between a man and a woman between human and animal. 

Therefore, while people enjoy different sexual fetishes and like to explore different sexual fantasies, readers should note that Bestiality is a crime in Nigeria, it is punishable by a jail term of up to 14 years, according to Section 214 of the Criminal Code Act which is applicable in Southern Nigeria and S.284 the Penal Code Act while is applicable in northern Nigeria.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has eventually confirmed that a parcel containing a sum of money in US dollars was stolen at its national secretariat in Abuja.

The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Felix Morka, who gave the confirmation in a statement on Thursday, 28th April 2022, put the figure of the missing money at $50,000.

He however clarified that the money did not belong to the party nor was it connected with the proceeds from the sale of nomination and expression of interest forms.

It would be recalled that there was a serious melodrama on Wednesday, 27th April 2022 at the National Headquarters of the APC in Abuja, after the parcel containing the cash was reportedly stolen.

According to reports, the cash was stolen while members of the party were struggling to gain access to the secretariat of the party for the purchase of their Nomination and Expression of Interest forms.

Reacting to the development, Mr. Morka in a statement issued on the said date, titled “Re: Lost money at APC national secretariat” disclosed that the missing money had no connection with the party.

He explained that all money meant for the forms were paid directly to designated bank accounts, adding that the money in question was reported lost by an individual at the entrance to the party secretariat.

“On Wednesday, April 27, 2022, a sum of $50,000 was reported lost by an individual around the entrance gate of the National Secretariat of the party,” the statement reads.

“To be clear, the lost money does not belong to the Party. In any event, the fee for the said forms is set and denominated in Naira not US Dollars.

“The loss is neither connected with proceeds of sale of forms nor with relocation of the venue for the collection of Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms, from the secretariat grounds to the International Conference Centre.”

It’s noteworthy that the APC recently relocated the party’s venue for the onward collection of the forms obtained by the aspirants, after filling them as required, to the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja.

“As widely advertised and reported in major news outlets, all purchases of forms are payable to designated bank accounts of the party.” the statement added.

On why the party also shifted the venue for the collection of forms to the ICC, Mr. Morka explained that it was to ease the heavy human and vehicular traffic around the secretariat being caused by those who had thronged the place for their forms.

The Nigerian politicians are really amusing and dramatic in their actions as well as the way and manner they respond to trending issues concerning their activities.

How could a spokesman of an organization issue a press statement targeted to aptly inform the members of the public, but ended up confusing them? The released statement rather caused confusion in the head of the observers.

Why didn’t Mr. Morka use the same avenue to notify interested Nigerians what the missing money was meant for, or whose belonging it was? Probably, he was of the view that such information wasn’t necessary.

But, how could someone ‘boldly and proudly’ steal a certain sum of money kept in a public domain, without minding the implications of his or her actions afterwards? Isn’t it intriguing?

Time has really come for Nigeria’s politicians to turn a new leaf, especially at this era when they are seriously seeking the people’s support and votes.