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Tories select councillor Louie French for Old Bexley and Sidcup byelection

The Conservatives have selected a candidate to contest the Old Bexley and Sidcup byelection after the death of MP James Brokenshire.

Louie French, a councillor for eight years and the former deputy leader of Bexley council, will face candidates from Labour and the Reform party in a byelection, the date of which has not yet been announced.

The announcement on Saturday comes after former Cabinet minister Brokenshire, who had lung cancer, died aged 53 earlier this month.

French, to whom Brokenshire was a friend and mentor, is likely to be viewed as the favourite to win the seat, which has been held by the Conservatives since its creation in 1983.

“It’s an honour to have been selected as the Conservative candidate for Old Bexley and Sidcup, where I hope to carry on his [Brokenshire’s] excellent work,” he said. “I will campaign to ensure that outer London areas like Old Bexley and Sidcup are not forgotten or left behind by the mayor of London and City Hall.”

He also pledged to improve access to GPs and other healthcare services and build on Brokenshire’s work with Queen Mary’s hospital.

Oliver Dowden, the Conservative party chair, praised French’s appointment, saying: “Louie will build on James’s exceptional record as a strong voice tirelessly standing up for the people of Bexley.”

French will run against Daniel Francis, a Bexley councillor for Labour, and Richard Tice, the leader of Reform, formerly known as the Brexit party.

Francis, a former leader of Bexley’s Labour group on the council who has lived in the area for his entire life, claims residents are “fed up of being taken for granted by the Tories”.

He tweeted from the campaign trail today: “Only Labour can provide the change our constituency needs.”

Meanwhile, Tice said he will be standing on a ticket of low taxes and pledged to campaign for a referendum on the 2050 net zero emissions target.

The former MEP described the seat as “traditionally Conservative”. He said: “Voters here did not expect the prime minister to deliver con-socialism, a highly taxed, highly regulated nanny state.”

The south-east London seat, which was previously held by former prime minister Ted Heath, was won by Brokenshire with a majority of close to 19,000 in the 2019 general election.

He served as secretary of state for Northern Ireland and for communities and local government under Theresa May and held multiple junior government positions under David Cameron and Boris Johnson. He was MP for Hornchurch from 2005 to 2010 and then for 11 years as MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup.

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Ex-kogi Deputy Speaker is dead

The immediate past Deputy Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon Enema Paul, is dead.

He died of an undisclosed illness in Abuja at a private hospital in the early hours of Saturday.

Before his death, Hon Paul was the member representing Okura State Constituency in the current 8th Assembly in Kogi State.

Hon Paul stepped down as Kogi State Deputy Speaker on health grounds, and he was later replaced by the member representing Ibaji State Constituency, Hon. Comfort Ojoma Nwuchiola.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Aliyu Umar Yusuf, has commiserated with the family of the former Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon. Enema Paul, whose demise was announced early Saturday.

This is contained in a press statement signed and made available to journalists in Lokoja by the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Yabagi Mohammed.

He described the deceased Assembly member as a friend, temperate, humble, team-playing, committed lawmaker, and public servant.

According to Rt Hon Umar, the former Deputy Speaker was a man who exemplified commitment to the unity of the state, having demonstrated a genuine desire to enhance pro-people legislation for overall development.

He noted that the late Enema Paul was also a devoted Christian who saw beyond religion and whose godliness and commitment to family values were unquestionable.

The Speaker prayed to God to grant the immediate family and members of the current and immediate past Assembly the fortitude to bear the huge loss.

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Lagos doctor, Femi Olaleye, regains freedom after appeal court nullified his rape conviction

Nigerian doctor, Femi Olaleye, has regained his freedom weeks after the Appeal court sitting in Lagos nullified his rape conviction.

Olaleye was arraigned in 2022 by the Lagos State Government at the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, in Ikeja, Lagos and was in October 2023, found guilty of defiling his wife’s 16-year-old niece.

The judge held that the prosecution proved the two counts charge of defilement and sexual assault by penetration against Olaleye.

After his conviction in August 2023, his lawyer, Kemi Pinhero, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), filed an appeal in November 2023, arguing that there was no direct evidence to confirm the alleged victim’s age.

In a judgement delivered on November 29, 2024, the appeal court held that there was no direct evidence to establish the alleged victim’s age, claiming the prosecution failed to provide documentation proving she was 16 years old at the time of the offence.

The court then discharged and acquitted Olaleye.

Taking to his Instagram page this afternoon, he shared photos of him leaving the prison on December 3. He wrote;

‘’Freedom is not just a release—it is a rebirth. And on Tuesday, 03/12/24 my new chapter began! @drfemi is back and active!”

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Gunmen kill 1 at Benin nightclub

The police in Edo have confirmed the killing of a guest at the popular Raptor Club and Lounge, Stadium Road, Benin.

The victim was shot dead by gunmen in the early hours of Friday, while his female passenger sustained gunshot injuries.

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SP Moses Yamu, Public Relations Officer of the Police Command in Edo, told NAN that investigations into the incident were ongoing.

According to him, the police received a distress call at 3 a.m. that there were gunshots at Raptop Club.

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He said the operatives of the command on reaching the scene went after the hoodlums, who escaped and abandoned a pump action gun and two expended empty shells.

Yamu explained that efforts were ongoing to arrest the perpetrators.

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The incident, which occurred at about 2 a.m., has left the management and patrons of the nightclub in shock.

A source told NAN that the deceased, whose identity has not been disclosed, was shot inside his white Lexus Jeep vehicle, while the female passenger was hit by stray bullets on her lap.

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The incident left the club with some damages, including shattered show glasses and a destroyed glass door.

Policemen were seen at the scene of the incident, as the deceased’s vehicle was towed away.