Politics

Top Iranian general killed by same Israeli strike as Nasrallah

Published

1 year ago

September 29, 2024

Story by Associated Press

The death of Gen. Abbas Nilforushan marks the latest Iranian casualty as the Israel-Gaza war threatens a wider regional conflict

A prominent general in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard died in an Israeli air strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

The killing of Gen. Abbas Nilforushan marks the latest Iranian casualty suffered as the nearly year-long Israel-Gaza war in the Gaza Strip teeters on the edge of becoming a regional conflict. His death further ratchets up pressure on Iran to respond, even as Tehran has signalled in recent months that it wants to negotiate with the West over sanctions crushing its economy.

Nilforushan, 58, was killed on Friday in the strike in Lebanon in which Nasrallah died, the state-owned newspaper Tehran Times reported. Ahmad Reza Pour Khaghan, the deputy head of Iran’s judiciary, also confirmed Nilforushan’s death, describing him as a “guest to the people of Lebanon,” the state-run IRNA news agency said.

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Khaghan also reportedly said that Iran had the right to retaliate under international law.

Nilforushan served as the deputy commander for operations in the Guard, a role overseeing its ground forces. What he was doing in Lebanon on Friday wasn’t immediately clear. The Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force for decades has armed, trained, and relied on Hezbollah as part of its strategy to rely on regional militias as a counterbalance to Israel and the United States.

Nilforushan, like other members of the Guard that view Israel as Iran’s main enemy, long mocked and criticised the country.

“The Zionist regime has many ethnic, cultural, social, and military rifts. It is in a vulnerable and doomed [position] more than before,” Nilforushan said in 2022, according to an IRNA report.

The US Treasury sanctioned Nilforushan in 2022 and said he had led an organisation “directly in charge of protest suppression.” Those sanctions came amid the months-long protests in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest for allegedly not wearing her headscarf, or hijab, to the liking of police. At the time, Nilforushan accused Iran’s enemies abroad of stoking the demonstrations led by Iranian women that challenged both the mandatory hijab and the country’s theocracy.

Nilforushan also served in Syria, backing President Bashar al-Assad in his country’s decades-long war that grew out of the 2011 Arab spring. Like many of his colleagues, he began his military career in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.

In 2020, Iranian state television called him a “comrade” of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of its expeditionary Quds Force who was killed in a US drone attack in Baghdad that year.

Nilforushan’s death comes as Iran in recent months has been signalling it wants to change its tack with the West after years of tensions stemming from then-President Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of the US from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

In July, Iranian voters elected reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian following a helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline protege to 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

While critical of Israel, Pezeshkian has maintained that Iran is willing to negotiate over its nuclear programme, which now enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels. While Iran has been able to sell oil abroad despite sanctions, it likely was at a steep discount, and energy prices have fallen further in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Iran still threatens to retaliate for Soleimani’s killing and the suspected Israeli assassination in Tehran of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in July. Iran has not explained why it has not struck yet, though an unprecedented direct attack it launched in April on Israel failed to seriously damage any major target.

Politics

Electoral Reform: Dino alleges senate’s plot to rig 2027 election

Published

2 hours ago

February 6, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

Former lawmaker, Dino Melaye Esq, has raised concerns over the Senate’s reported rejection of the electronic transmission of election results.

The move, according to Melaye, is a clear endorsement of election rigging and an indication of a sinister plan to rig the 2027 elections.

In a statement on Friday, the former lawmaker criticized the Senate’s decision, stating that it undermines the credibility of the electoral process.

The African Democratic Congress, ADC chieftain, also stated that the move opens the door for electoral manipulation and fraud.

He further warned that the rejection of electronic transmission of results is a step backwards for democracy in Nigeria.

Melaye called on lawmakers and citizens to stand up against “this blatant attempt to undermine the will of the people and ensure that future elections are free, fair, and transparent”.

Politics

Electoral Act: Nigerians have every reason to be mad at Senate – Ezekwesili

Published

5 hours ago

February 6, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has said Nigerians have every reason to be mad at the Senate over the ongoing debate on e-transmission of election results.

Ezekwesili made this known on Friday when she featured in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Morning Show’ monitored by DAILY POST.

DAILY POST reports that the Senate on Wednesday turned down a proposed change to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the Electoral Amendment Bill that aimed to compel the electronic transmission of election results.

Reacting to the matter, Ezekwesili said, “The fundamental issue with the review of the Electoral Act is that the Senate retained the INEC 2022 Act, Section 60 Sub 5.

“This section became infamous for the loophole it provided INEC, causing Nigerians to lose trust. Since the law established that it wasn’t mandatory for INEC to transmit electoral results in real-time, there wasn’t much anyone could say.

“Citizens embraced the opportunity to reform the INEC Act, aiming to address ambiguity and discretionary opportunities for INEC. Yet, the Senate handled it with a “let sleeping dogs lie” approach. The citizens have every reason to be as outraged as they currently are.”

Politics

Electoral act: Senate’s action confirms Nigeria ‘fantastically corrupt’, ‘disgraced’ – Peter Obi

Published

5 hours ago

February 6, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has condemned the Senate’s refusal to make electronic transmission of election results mandatory, saying the move further exposes Nigeria as a fantastically corrupt and disgraced country.

Obi expressed his views in a statement shared on X on Friday, where he accused lawmakers of deliberately weakening Nigeria’s democratic process ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He explained that his reaction came after a brief pause to mourn victims of a deadly tragedy in Kwara State, where over 150 people reportedly lost their lives.

“Let us first pray for the souls of the innocent Nigerians lost in Kwara. That painful incident is why I delayed responding to the shameful development surrounding our electoral system,” he wrote.

Describing the Senate’s decision as intentional and dangerous, Obi said rejecting mandatory electronic transmission was not a simple oversight but a calculated attempt to block transparency.

“The Senate’s open rejection of electronic transmission of results is an unforgivable act of electoral manipulation ahead of 2027,” he said.

According to him, the action strikes at the heart of democracy and raises serious questions about the true purpose of governance in Nigeria.

“This failure to pass a clear safeguard is a direct attack on our democracy. By refusing these transparency measures, the foundation of credible elections is being destroyed. One must ask whether government exists to ensure justice and order or to deliberately create chaos for the benefit of a few.”

The former Anambra State governor linked the post-election controversies of the 2023 general elections to the failure to fully deploy electronic transmission of results, insisting that Nigerians were misled with claims of technical failures.

“

The confusion, disputes and manipulation that followed the 2023 elections were largely due to the refusal to fully implement electronic transmission,” he said.

He added that the so-called system glitch never truly existed.

Obi compared Nigeria’s electoral process with those of other African countries that have embraced technology to improve credibility, lamenting that Nigeria continues to fall behind.

“Many African nations now use electronic transmission to strengthen their democracy. Yet Nigeria, which calls itself the giant of Africa, is moving backwards and dragging the continent along.”

He criticised Nigeria’s leadership class, saying the country’s problems persist not because of a lack of ideas but because of deliberate resistance to meaningful reform.

“We keep organising conferences and writing policy papers about Nigeria’s challenges. But the truth is that the leaders and elite are the real problem. Our refusal to change is pushing the nation backwards into a primitive system of governance.”

Warning of the dangers ahead, Obi said rejecting electronic transmission creates room for confusion and disorder that only serves the interests of a small group.

He also recalled past remarks by foreign leaders who described Nigeria as corrupt, arguing that actions like this continue to justify those statements.

“When a former UK Prime Minister described Nigeria as ‘fantastically corrupt,’ we were offended. When former US President Donald Trump called us a ‘disgraced nation,’ we were angry. But our continued resistance to transparency keeps proving them right.”

Obi warned that Nigerians should not accept a repeat of the electoral irregularities witnessed in 2023.

“Let there be no mistake. The criminality seen in 2023 must not be tolerated in 2027.”

He urged citizens to be ready to defend democracy through lawful and decisive means, while also calling on the international community to closely monitor developments in Nigeria’s electoral process.

“The international community must pay attention to the groundwork being laid for future electoral manipulation, which threatens our democracy and development,” Obi stated.

He concluded by expressing hope that change is still possible if Nigerians take collective responsibility.

“A new Nigeria is possible but only if we all rise and fight for it.”