Football

Stephen Keshi’s funeral rites begin

Published

10 years ago

on

July 29, 2016

By

Feyijimi Emmanuel

The final journey home for Stephen Keshi, former coach of the Super Eagles who died on June 8, has begun.

The final rites began in Benin, Edo State, on Thursday with a one –hour church service at Saint Paul’s Catholic Church, off Airport Road, before lying-in-state at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, where Keshi played many matches for the New Nigeria Bank FC.

ALSO SEE: Stephen Keshi is dead

The two day-event also featured a novelty match between ex –internationals and All-Stars at the same venue, in honour of the former libero, ended 1-1. The body was later taken to Asaba, the Delta State capital.

Related Topics:former coach of the Super Eagles funeral rites Stephen Keshi

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Vote-buying remains a major concern One of the strongest warnings from Osun was the continued presence of vote-buying and voter inducement. Yiaga Africa said the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were consistent with its independent statistical projections, but cautioned that this did not remove concerns about the integrity of voters' choices amid reports of vote-buying and inducement. The concern is particularly significant ahead of 2027, when political competition will take place nationwide and involve presidential, National Assembly and state-level contests. The International Republican Institute (IRI), following a pre-election assessment mission conducted in August, identified monetised political competition, election-related violence, insecurity and declining public confidence in INEC among the structural challenges facing the 2027 elections. 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IRI recommended stronger investigation and prosecution of vote-buying and voter inducement, urging INEC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and security agencies to act on credible allegations. Technology improves transparency — but has limits The Osun election also demonstrated how electoral technology can improve transparency. INEC's electronic transmission of polling-unit results through the IReV platform provided observers and members of the public with a mechanism to monitor uploaded results. Yiaga Africa subsequently said the official results were consistent with its independent statistical estimates, describing the outcome as evidence that the announced results reflected the ballots counted at polling units. However, technical problems with BVAS were reported during voting. CDD said difficulties involving biometric verification and slow processing occurred in several LGAs, including Irepodun, Ejigbo, Obokun, Osogbo, Olorunda, Ola Oluwa, Ede North and Ede South. 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