A former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has warned against vote-buying, describing it as one of the greatest threats to Nigeria’s democracy.
In a post on his official X handle on Tuesday, Obi said those who purchase votes only do so with the intention of gaining access to public funds, stressing that bribing voters today becomes “a licence to plunder tomorrow”.
According to him, money meant for schools, hospitals, roads, and jobs often ends up in private pockets once such politicians assume office.
“Such people are not leaders, they are looters. Their actions rob our society of dignity, development, and even life itself”, he wrote.
READ ALSO:  , Security Clearance: ‘ A Threat To Obi Is Against All Of Us, ‘ Says Atiku
The former governor of Anambra State also faulted voters who trade their ballots for cash or material gain, noting that they mortgage their future for tokens that cannot sustain them.
“When you exchange your ballot for money, you are selling away the schools your children should attend, the hospitals that should save lives, and the jobs that should lift families out of poverty”, he cautioned.
Obi stressed that the desperation of politicians to buy votes shows that the ballot remains powerful. He urged Nigerians to resist inducements and embrace the politics of service.
READ ALSO: YPP Candidate Alleges Vote Buying In Anambra By-Election
“The real power does not lie in their money. It lies in your conscience, your courage, and your vote”, he declared.
The LP chieftain reiterated his call for a collective rejection of bribery in politics, urging citizens to elect leaders committed to building a new Nigeria.
Since announcing plans to invade northern Gaza and expel Palestinians again to the south, Israel has attacked displacement shelters in the Gaza City neighbourhood of Zeitoun, according to an investigation by Sanad, Al Jazeera’s verification unit.
Since August 13, Sanad has found that Israel stepped up the bombardment and shelling of Zeitoun, and often directly hit displacement shelters.
The siege and ongoing violence have compelled thousands of Palestinians to close their tents in the camps and flee further south, according to satellite imagery obtained by Sanad.
Israel is deliberately pushing people south as part of its invasion of northern Gaza (Al Jazeera)
The indiscriminate bombardment of civilian homes and displacement shelters is part of a broad pattern of Israeli war tactics that make no distinction between civilians and fighters.
Human rights groups, United Nations experts and numerous legal scholars believe Israel’s nearly two-year war on Gaza amounts to genocide.
Israel’s Western allies – who have long defended it from criticism by claiming it has the “right to defend itself” – are becoming increasingly alarmed at the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the enclave.
Many are calling on Israel to end the war and warning that its plan to seize northern Gaza could further exacerbate the suffering of civilians. The mass displacement and bombardment of Zeitoun encapsulate the atrocities resulting from Israel’s invasion.
Israel attacking displacement camps in Zeitoun (Al Jazeera)
Attacking shelters
There are about 11 displacement shelters in Zeitoun, each sheltering 4, 000 to 4, 500 besieged and hungry Palestinians.
Most live on just 3.2sq km (1.2sq miles), which makes up just 32 percent of the pre-war size of Zeitoun.
At the start of the war, Israel dug trenches in and around the neighbourhood, claiming it was creating a ‘ buffer zone”, and built the Netzarim Corridor, which has split Gaza into two zones.
]Al Jazeera]
Israel’s recent bombardment of the neighbourhood is terrifying civilians into fleeing south, leading to another cycle of forced displacement that may amount to ethnic cleansing due to Israel’s attempt to destroy all livable facilities and structures.
An Al Jazeera journalist on the ground recently captured footage of Israel firing a missile directly at a home in Zeitoun.
While it is unclear whether anyone was inside, it is clear that all structures are being levelled, possibly to make it more difficult for any survivors to try to relocate to the area.
According to Sanad, there is clear evidence that Israel is pursuing that policy in and around Zeitoun. Sources found that Israel had attacked al-Falah School in Zeitoun and a tent camp on al-Lababidi Street between August 11 and August 16.
Both the Sheikh Ajilin neighborhood and the Nassr neighborhood’s Majida al-Wasila school were both affected by the tornado.
Since these structures are protected by international humanitarian law, direct attacks on tents and school shelters, which are the last resort of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
ACTIVE – Schools that provide temporary housing for displaced people
England vs. the United States: Women’s Rugby World Cup
Stadium of Light, Sunderland Date: Friday, August 22 Kick-off: 19:30 BST
The Women’s Rugby World Cup final in Twickenham has sold out, making it likely to be the largest crowd to watch a one-off women’s rugby game ever.
The previous record was set at Twickenham’s 82, 000-seat Allianz Stadium when England defeated France in the 2023 Six Nations.
66, 000 people tuned in to Stade de France’s opening day of the women’s rugby sevens at Paris 2024.
Three times as many tickets as were sold at the previous World Cup in New Zealand are sold, making 375, 000 of the 470, 000 tickets sold in total for the 32-game tournament, which begins on August 22.
The 2025 Rugby World Cup chair, Gill Whitehead, said, “We are very confident that the final will be the most popular women’s rugby match in history, easily exceeding the 66, 000 crowd that we saw in Paris in 2024.
The girls played at [Twickenham] Stoop]Stadium] around the corner to a crowd of 13, 000 people, according to the statement from England, “the last time the Women’s Rugby World Cup was held in 2010].
Never had the best of intentions or what I thought I would witness the girls leaving the tunnel and onto the three levels of a crowded Allianz Stadium. It is what makes up a girl’s “dreams.”
Numerous supporters have been drawn to recent Red Roses matches. England defeated Ireland and New Zealand at Twickenham last year in front of crowds of 48, 778, and 41-23.
In Eden Park, 42, 579 spectators watched the 2021 Rugby World Cup final, in which England succeded to New Zealand 34-31.
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Venue: Stadium of Light, Sunderland Date: Friday 22 August Kick-off: 19:30 BST
The Women’s Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham has sold out making it likely to be the biggest ever crowd for a one-off women’s rugby match.
The current record was also set at Twickenham’s 82,000 capacity Allianz Stadium when 58,498 watched England beat France in the 2023 Six Nations.
At Paris 2024, 66,000 watched the opening day of the women’s rugby sevens at Stade de France.
Across the 32-match tournament, which starts on Friday 22 August, 375,000 of the 470,000 tickets have already been sold, three times the number sold at the last World Cup in New Zealand.
“We are very confident the final will be the most attended women’s rugby match in history, easily surpassing the 66,000 crowd that we saw in Paris in 2024,” said Gill Whitehead, chair of the 2025 Rugby World Cup.
“The last time England hosted the Women’s Rugby World Cup [in 2010], the girls played at [Twickenham] Stoop [Stadium] around the corner to a crowd of 13,000.
“The prospect of the girls running out of the tunnel to the three tiers of a packed Allianz Stadium is something I never hoped or thought I would see. It is what girls’ dreams are made of.”
Recent Red Roses matches have pulled in large numbers of supporters. Crowds of 48,778 and 41,523 attended England wins over Ireland and New Zealand at Twickenham last year.
The 2021 Rugby World Cup final, where England narrowly lost to New Zealand 34-31, was played in front of 42,579 at Eden Park.
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England vs. the United States: Women’s Rugby World Cup
Stadium of Light, Sunderland Date: Friday, August 22 Kick-off: 19:30 BST
The Women’s Rugby World Cup final in Twickenham has sold out, making it likely to be the largest crowd to watch a one-off women’s rugby game ever.
The previous record was set at Twickenham’s 82, 000-seat Allianz Stadium when England defeated France in the 2023 Six Nations.
66, 000 people tuned in to Stade de France’s opening day of the women’s rugby sevens at Paris 2024.
Three times as many tickets as were sold at the previous World Cup in New Zealand are sold, making 375, 000 of the 470, 000 tickets sold in total for the 32-game tournament, which begins on August 22.
The 2025 Rugby World Cup chair, Gill Whitehead, said, “We are very confident that the final will be the most popular women’s rugby match in history, easily exceeding the 66, 000 crowd that we saw in Paris in 2024.
The girls played at [Twickenham] Stoop]Stadium] around the corner to a crowd of 13, 000 people, according to the statement from England, “the last time the Women’s Rugby World Cup was held in 2010].
Never had the best of intentions or what I thought I would witness the girls leaving the tunnel and onto the three levels of a crowded Allianz Stadium. It is what makes up a girl’s “dreams.”
Numerous supporters have been drawn to recent Red Roses matches. England defeated Ireland and New Zealand at Twickenham last year in front of crowds of 48, 778, and 41-23.
In Eden Park, 42, 579 spectators watched the 2021 Rugby World Cup final, in which England succeded to New Zealand 34-31.
JavaScript must be enabled in your browser to play this video.
JavaScript must be enabled in your browser to play this video.
United States President Donald Trump has stepped up his attacks against mail-in voting, which he claims was rigged in the 2020 elections, and has pledged to get rid of the postal voting system.
“We are now the only country in the world that uses mail-in voting,” he posted on his Truth Social platform on Monday.
His post echoed grievances about mail-in voting he had aired days earlier in an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity. After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska, Trump told Hannity that Putin said the 2020 US presidential election was “rigged” because of mail-in voting. It wasn’t. Trump lost that election. Officials in his own administration told him that.
Hours after his post, Trump slightly softened his language during a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“And do you know that we’re the only country in the world – I believe, I may be wrong – but just about the only country in the world that uses [mail-in voting]. Because of what’s happened, massive fraud all over the place,” Trump said.
Mail-in voting provides more opportunities for fraud than in-person voting, researchers said, but it’s still rare, and election officials have safeguards in place.
Trump said during Monday’s remarks at the White House that his administration is preparing an executive order “to end mail-in ballots because they’re corrupt”.
We asked the White House for evidence to support Trump’s statement about other countries and received no response.
Data compiled by a Sweden-based organisation that advocates for democracy globally found in an October report that 34 countries or territories allow mail-in voting, which it refers to as “postal voting”.
Dozens of countries allow at least some mail-in voting
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance found that of those 34 countries or territories, 12 allow all voters to vote by mail and 22 permit only some voters to vote this way.
“Europe has the largest number of countries that make in-country postal voting available to all or some voters,” the report said.
No two countries have exactly the same postal voting system, said Annika Silva-Leander, the organisation’s North America head.
Silva-Leander noted some differences:
Ballot tracking: Ballot tracking allows voters and election officials to track ballots throughout the voting process to reduce fraud. Although that is common in the US, many countries don’t have it.
Different state systems: Many countries have the same postal voting system for the entire nation. In the US, the system differs from state to state. The majority of states allow voting by mail, including primarily Republican-voting, Democratic-voting and battleground states.
Mailing ballots to all voters is unusual: In most countries, postal voting supplements voting at polling stations, but some US states, such as Washington, rely largely on postal voting.
Ballot curing: This is a US process that allows voters to fix a problem, such as forgetting to sign the envelope, after casting their ballots. This process is not available in most countries.
The US has had voting by mail since its 1861-1865 Civil War. Voting by mail also has a long history across the globe.
Australia introduced postal voting more than a century ago, Graeme Orr, an expert on international electoral law at the University of Queensland in Australia, previously told PolitiFact.
All Canadians are eligible to use mail-in voting, said York University Associate Professor Cary Wu, who cowrote a 2024 paper about the effect of Trump’s antimail-voting messaging on Canadians’ views of postal voting.
“Voting by mail has long been a vital component of the democratic process in Canada,” Wu said.
Although the option of submitting a ballot by mail was extended to all Canadian voters in 1993, it was not commonly used in general elections before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the United Kingdom, on-demand postal voting was part of a wider modernisation in electoral administration in the early 2000s, according to a 2021 paper by UK researchers. Postal voting’s expansion was driven largely by a desire to increase turnout. Using data from the 2019 British Election Study, researchers found older voters and people with disabilities were more likely to opt for postal voting’s convenience.
Election workers prepare and sort postal votes before the start of the vote count, during the general election in Munich, Germany on February 23, 2025. [Gintare Karpaviciute/Reuters]
US states set mail-in voting laws
In his Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “The States are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes” and must do what the president tells them.
Election law Professor Rick Hasen at the University of California at Los Angeles wrote on his blog that Trump’s statement is “wrong and dangerous”.
“The Constitution does not give the President any control over federal elections,” Hasen wrote, adding that federal courts have recognised those limits.
The US Constitution’s Article 1, Section 4 says the regulation of elections is a power of the states.
“The president plays literally no role in elections, and that’s by design of the founders,” said David Becker, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research.
Despite often criticising voting by mail, Trump himself occasionally cast a mail-in ballot, and in 2024, Trump invited Republicans to cast mail-in ballots.
We asked the White House for details about the forthcoming executive order he described, including whether it seeks to entirely ban mail-in voting. White House spokesperson Harrison Fields did not address that question but said Trump wants to require voter IDs and prevent “cheating through lax and incompetent voting laws in states like California and New York.”
There is no evidence of widespread cheating in California and New York, two of the most populous states that consistently vote for Democrats for president. Most states require voter IDs although the rules vary.
Our ruling
Trump didn’t explain his evidence and hours later softened his language when he said he “may be wrong”.
In 2024, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance found that 34 countries or territories allow postal voting. For example, Australia has had mail-in voting for a century, and all Canadians are eligible to vote by mail.
