At least, three persons have lost their lives in a fatal accident involving a trailer descending from the ever-busy Beere Roundabout in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, while many others were injured, Channels Television is reporting.

The report which attributed the cause of the fatal incident to apparent brake failure, indicated that the truck, lost control after navigating through Oja’Oba, spiraling out of control upon reaching Beere Junction.

Reports, which said that the most severe damage occurred at Iso-Osan (Orange Market), where the trailer wreaked significant havoc, indicated that it rammed into vehicles, motorcycles, and pedestrians along the road, leaving death, injuries, and destruction of property in its wake.

Security agencies were said to have responded swiftly to the scene and are currently maintaining law and order in the area, while bodies of the deceased were reportedly deposited in a morgue, while the injured victims were been taken to nearby hospitals for medical treatment.

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Confirming the accident to Channels Television, the Police spokesman in Oyo State, DSP Olayinka Alayande, noted that the unfortunate incident did claim lives but could not ascertain the number of casualties yet.

He said, “It’s sadly true, but we cannot yet confirm how many lives were lost, as it is still an active crime scene. However, the Divisional Police Officer for Mapo is coordinating responders to restore calm and normalcy in the area at the moment.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has convened a meeting with leaders of political parties at its headquarters in Abuja to unveil and deliberate on new electoral guidelines ahead of the 2027 general elections.

In meeting, attended by chairmen and secretaries of political parties, as well as their representatives, including Nenadi Usman of the Labour Party, Abdulrahman Mohammed and Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), INEC is supposed to open presentations and discussions on the newly drafted electoral guidelines designed to govern the conduct of the 2027 polls.

Joash Amupitan, Chairman of the commission, who indicated that the parley followed the enactment of the Electoral Act 2026, which necessitated a review of existing procedures, said the updated guidelines were aligned with the provisions of the new electoral law, noting that political parties and other stakeholders could no longer operate within the evolving electoral framework using outdated regulations.

In addition to the guidelines review, INEC had also outlined several preparatory measures, including the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, with online pre-registration scheduled to commence on 18 August 2025, followed by in-person registration from 25 August 2025, allowing eligible Nigerians to register or update their voter information.

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The commission, which also announced plans for a nationwide voter register revalidation exercise, aimed at removing duplicate entries and deceased persons to enhance the credibility of the electoral roll, even as debates around electoral reforms persist, particularly regarding provisions in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026, including the Senate’s position on real-time electronic transmission of results to INEC’s Result Viewing (IReV) portal.

Political activities are also intensifying ahead of the polls. President Bola Tinubu has received endorsement from the All Progressives Congress (APC) for a second term, while opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar, Rotimi Amaechi, and Peter Obi, are exploring a coalition party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), to challenge the ruling party.

Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, on Tuesday, gave prescriptions on how to manage the rising cost of petrol following the global rise in crude oil prices – one of them, use of technology.

The African Richest Man (ARM), said on Monday, shortly after visiting President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja that employers should encourage their staffers to work from home, as in the days of the COVID 19, to cushion the effect of high cost of transportation, one of the effects of the global high cost of oil as a result of the crisis in the Middle East.

Dangote, owner of the Dangote Refineries and Petrochemicals (DRP), the first privately owned refinery in Nigeria, while referring to the effect of the Middle East conflict, warned that without the conflict subsiding, energy prices would continue to rise, with greater effect on the financial structure of the Nigerian governments at all levels.

Hear him: “So people will really feel the heat. People like barbers, people who are making bread, people who have industries, who have to fire their own generators.

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“I mean, you can see, in some countries today what they’ve done is ask everybody to work from home because they cannot… I think in Indonesia or so, they said only go to work four days a week and they will look at the situation, if it doesn’t improve, they will ask everybody not to go to work anymore. We did that in the time of COVID-19, where people worked from home.

“Although Nigeria is not directly involved, the interconnected nature of the global economy means it will inevitably feel the effects.

“But we pray this situation will be sorted out, it’s not going to escalate. If it doesn’t de-escalate, we’ll end up paying big prices.

“If you look at it now, when you talk about energy, energy affects almost everything and it’s not only energy, some people will try and take a chance and say this an opportunity so let me make money.

“So I pray, and we all need to pray that this thing de-escalates. If it doesn’t escalate, normally we in Africa, we don’t have any reserves in terms of savings or in terms of…

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“People normally go out and look for money for the next day or even for the same day. If they don’t work that day, they won’t eat. So, I think really, we just need all hands on deck to pray that this thing comes to an end.”