“Swept under the rug with no consequences.” Despite condemnation of Israeli moves tightening its grip on the occupied West Bank, observers like Fathi Nimer say they don’t expect the countries stating their opposition to actually do anything.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, has emerged as the Chairman of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Kyari was appointed at the 49th Session of the IFAD Governing Council Meeting held in Rome, Italy, on Tuesday.
The Minister noted that his appointment was not a personal accolade but a responsibility to vulnerable rural populations across the world.
In his acceptance speech, Kyari pledged to promote unity and inclusiveness across continents, promising impartial and strategically focused leadership to foster consensus, strengthen multilateral cooperation, and uphold IFAD’s credibility.
READ ALSO: Nigeria Revenue Service Collects ₦28.3trn In 2025, Sets ₦40.7trn Target For 2026
“It is with humility and a strong sense of duty that I accept this role,” Mr Kyari said in a statement on his X handle on Tuesday evening. “I take this mandate not as a personal honour, but as a responsibility to millions of rural women and men worldwide.”
With humility, I accept the honour to serve as Chairperson of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) @IFAD . This is a solemn responsibility to the millions of rural people whose lives are shaped by our decisions.
I am deeply grateful… pic.twitter.com/6x2eWWEIX1
The minister reaffirmed his commitment to IFAD’s mission of being financially robust, policy-driven, and impact-focused.
He also thanked President Bola Tinubu for positioning Nigeria as a leader in global development cooperation.
Kyari commended outgoing IFAD chairman Christophe Schiltz for his leadership, noting the challenges global food systems face, including climate shocks, economic volatility, conflicts, and population pressures.
He assured that with determination and innovation, partnerships will be strengthened to ensure no rural community is left behind.
The Senate has defended the amendments to the Electoral Act, saying the lawmakers painstakingly worked for the best interest of Nigerians.
“Anyone who loves Nigeria will know that what we have done today is the best for Nigeria,” the spokesman of the Senate, Yemi Adaramodu, said on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“We don’t play to the gallery. Then the minor minority that are so melodramatic about it, we don’t look at them to make laws because principles of lawmaking are not just something like eating amala,” the Ekiti South senator said.
The Senate on Tuesday amended the Electoral Act, allowing for the electronic transmission of results, but made provision for technical issues that may arise in the course of elections.
That decision was a reversal of the lawmakers’ earlier stance, in which the Senate rejected the compulsory electronic transmission of results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IREV).
The move generated backlash from critics, civil societies, and opposition leaders.
But on Tuesday, during an emergency plenary, the upper chamber approved electronic transmission (without the real-time phrase) as part of the electoral process.
READ ALSO: Senate Reverses Stance To Allow E-Transmission Of Election Results, Retains Manual Backup
In case of internet connectivity failure, the lawmakers said the Form EC8A will remain the primary instrument for result collation.
Adaramodu defended the move, saying it was a thorough job by the lawmakers.
“We don’t do something that we just wake up just on impulse and just say something, and then you say you have made a law. You have to be very thorough. You have to be very painstaking,” the spokesman added.
“It must be so painstakingly done that the flaws must not be so latent to the extent that it can repudiate whatever good trust that Nigerians will have in our system,” he said.
“So that is why it is not something that we just sleep and just wake up one day and say that we have made laws.”
He said the “shades of opinions about the bill is an indication that Nigeria’s democracy is thriving.
Senator Adaramodu said, “like we know in Nigeria, and everywhere else where democracy is thriving —and we want democracy to thrive — there will be shades of opinions.
Joined by survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuses, US Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer introduced legislation to end the federal statute of limitations that has shielded sex traffickers. It’s named for Virginia Giuffre, one of the late sex offender’s most prominent accusers.
Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Laegreid reflects on his decision to confess on live television to having cheated on his girlfriend, moments after winning bronze in the Winter Olympics.
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England Test captain Ben Stokes says he has had successful surgery on the broken cheek he sustained when hit by a ball while coaching Durham’s academy.
Stokes, 34, was injured last week as he worked with youngsters at his county.
It is understood he was struck by a ball hit by a batter as he stood beside the nets.
The all-rounder posted a photograph from hospital of his swollen face on Instagram on Tuesday with the caption: “May not look like it but the surgery was a success.”
It is not yet known when Stokes can return to cricket.
He will be part of England Lions’ coaching staff for the development side’s series against Pakistan Shaheens in the United Arab Emirates next month.
England’s next Test is against New Zealand on 4 June, the start of a three-match series.
Stokes has not played since the conclusion of the Ashes in Sydney on 8 January.
