Suspected hoodlums have set a section of the Eleme local government secretariat in Rivers state on fire.

The incident comes hours after Kayode Egbetokun, the inspector-general of police, ordered the immediate withdrawal of police personnel from the secretariat of the 23 LGAs of the state.

Grace Iringe-Koko, police spokesperson in Rivers, announced that the IGP’s directive “is in line with the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force stance to ensure neutrality and the smooth functioning of democratic institutions.”

The fire occurred just hours after Siminalayi Fubara, the Rivers governor, swore in 23 newly elected local government chairpersons.

The Action Peoples Party (APP) won 22 LGAs in Saturday’s election, while the Action Alliance (AA) secured one LGA.

During the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday, Fubara mentioned there were plans to perpetrate violence against the elected officials on Monday.

“I’m aware that they are mobilising 20 people per unit to go and confront you tomorrow when you resume in your local government headquarters,” Fubara said.

“Please if they are coming with violence, avoid them.

“The peace of this state is too important to us. Everybody knows what they are planning but please I want to beg everyone to follow my approach.

“At the right time, you will always win if you are patient and calculative. We have made our promises to our people. We are going to lead them to the promised land.”

Tensions have been high in Rivers due to a prolonged turf war between Fubara and Nyesom Wike, the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT).

On October 3, a crowd besieged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital, protesting against the LGA election.

Hours before voting commenced, an explosion reportedly rocked the secretariat of an All Progressives Congress (APC) faction led by Tony Okocha, the ex-chairman of the APC caretaker committee in the state.

On Saturday, police officers reportedly disrupted the local government election in Elekahia primary school, Port Harcourt.

The mayor of a city in southern Mexico has been murdered less than a week after taking office, authorities said on Sunday, marking the latest in a series of attacks on politicians in the violence-plagued Latin American country.

The killing of Chilpancingo mayor, Alejandro Arcos, “fills us with indignation,” Guerrero State governor, Evelyn Salgado, wrote on social media, without providing further details of the circumstances.

Local media reported that Arcos had been decapitated, but there has been no official confirmation.

Arcos was elected in June, representing an opposition coalition that included the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which denounced his killing as a “cowardly crime” and called for justice.

“Enough of violence and impunity! The people of Guerrero do not deserve to live in fear,” the PRI stated on X.

His murder came just days after the killing of another city official, Francisco Tapia, according to PRI president Alejandro Moreno.

“They had been in office for less than a week. Young and honest officials who sought progress for their community,” Moreno said on X.

Guerrero, one of Mexico’s poorest states, has endured years of violence linked to turf wars between cartels fighting for control of drug production and trafficking.

Last year, 1,890 murders were recorded in the state, which is home to the beachside resort city of Acapulco, a former playground for the rich and famous, now blighted by crime.

Across Mexico, more than 450,000 people have been killed, and tens of thousands have gone missing, in a spiral of violence since the government deployed the army to combat drug trafficking in 2006.

Politicians, particularly at the local level, frequently fall victim to the bloodshed connected to corruption and the multibillion-dollar drug trade.

Tackling the cartel violence, which makes murder and kidnapping daily occurrences in Mexico, is among the major challenges facing Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first female president.

Sheinbaum, the former mayor of Mexico City, who was sworn in on 1st October, has pledged to adhere to her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s “hugs not bullets” strategy of using social policy to tackle crime at its roots.

She is set to unveil her security plan on Tuesday.

At least 24 politicians were murdered during a particularly violent electoral process leading up to the June election, which the key ruling party figure won by a landslide, according to official figures.

The Labour Party, on Sunday, expressed approval for the offer made by Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, the New Nigeria People’s Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, to serve as Peter Obi’s running mate for the 2027 presidential election.

Kwankwaso recently conveyed his “willingness to serve as running mate” to Obi, barely two years after previous negotiations between the two parties fell through.

It had been reported that the Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) were considering a merger before the 2023 general elections, but “the inability of either Obi or Kwankwaso to concede the leadership collapsed the heightened move.”

In a video shared on his official account, Kwankwaso stated, “I’m bigger than Peter Obi politically; I’m his elder brother, I’m a PhD holder, I performed better than him when I was the governor of my state. I’ve no problem with deputising for Peter Obi, but only if certain conditions are met.”

He further added, “We are willing to engage in discussions, provided that trust is established.”

During the 2023 elections, Obi secured approximately 6,101,533 votes, finishing third, while Kwankwaso garnered 1,496,687 votes, landing in fourth place.

Kwankwaso has been notably critical of the Bola Tinubu-led government, especially its economic policies, which he claims have worsened conditions for Nigerians.

In response, Labour Party National Secretary Umar Farouk described Kwankwaso’s willingness to resume talks as “a welcome development.”

Farouk also urged Kwankwaso to refrain from asserting political superiority, saying, “As a political party, we stand for good governance and we have equally given all our candidates, both former and serving ones, the opportunity to choose how to associate with people of like-minds who share the philosophy and ideology of the Labour Party.”

He added, “We are happy Kwankwaso has alighted from the high horse he was riding and willing to offer himself to Obi as deputy having seen he garnered more than six million votes at the 2023 election. With his so-called popularity in the North, Kwankwaso could only amass less than two million votes.”

He further stated, “Again, he should stop this talk of being a bigger politician and PhD holder. What did he even do as a minister of defence?”

Farouk explained that the political landscape in 2027 would differ from 2023, and it would benefit Nigerians if Obi and Kwankwaso combined efforts “to wrest power from the APC government.” However, he acknowledged that the “sitting government will not go to sleep and allow the renewed move to work.”

Meanwhile, despite ongoing criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s policies, Alhaji Ado Garba (Tati), a legislative aide to the Deputy President of the Senate, remains confident that Tinubu will secure a “landslide victory” in the 2027 election.

Tati believes the “goodwill of the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin,” would play a key role in securing votes for Tinubu, particularly in Kano State.

He credited Barau’s efforts, which include “women and youths empowerment programmes, scholarship schemes, desilting of dams, provision of federal and feeder roads, and irrigation schemes” in the Kano North Senatorial District, as well as distributing “60 trucks to farmers” and establishing a transport service with over 1,000 buses.

Tati further highlighted that Barau’s “populist programmes” have increased membership for the APC in Kano, with numerous NNPP supporters defecting to the ruling party.

He concluded that Barau’s initiatives and Tinubu’s “realistic and patriotic reform policies” would prompt voters in Kano to support Tinubu’s re-election campaign in 2027.