Two by-elections will be held in the Southside/Newington and Portobello/Craigmillar wards following the resignations of Councillors Simita Kumar and Kate Campbell.
Residents will go to the polls on Thursday 3 September to elect one new councillor in each ward. The current electorate is 24,304 for Southside/Newington and 27,347 for Portobello/Craigmillar.
On 15 July the formal Notice of Election will be published, and the Election Timetable, Election Notices and Nomination Papers will all be accessible on the Council website.
Returning Officer for Edinburgh, Paul Lawrence said:
“I’d like to thank Councillors Kumar and Campbell for their service as elected members and I wish them all the best in their new roles at Holyrood.
“We’ll now begin preparing for these by-elections to make sure our residents are able to make their voices heard and elect their new representatives to the City Chambers.
“I’d urge everyone in these wards to make sure they are registered to vote and to check that they have asked for a postal or proxy vote if that is what they need.”
Nomination papers can be submitted from 10am on 16 July until 4pm on 31 July to the Returning Officer in the City Chambers.
Candidates will be confirmed after nominations close on 31 July.
Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 3 September.
The election will use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system where voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than using a single cross. Voters can rank as many or as few candidates as they like.
The deadline to register to vote in these by-elections is 18 August. For new postal vote applications, it’s 19 August and for new proxy votes it’s 26 August.
<p><img width="768" height="432" src="https://www.naijanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Hussaini-Gumel.jpg" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Police Arrest 132 Suspected Armed Robbers, Kidnappers, Illicit Drug Dealers In Kano" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" srcset="https://www.naijanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Hussaini-Gumel.jpg 768w, https://www.naijanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Hussaini-Gumel-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></p>
<h2>The Kano State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has confirmed the arrest of 132 individuals for various crimes, including <a href="https://www.naijanews.com/topic/kidnapping/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kidnapping</a>, armed robbery, and drug trafficking.</h2>
<p>The State Police commissioner,<strong> Hussaini Gumel,</strong> gave details of the arrest on Friday, stating that the suspects were apprehended within a span of two months across different areas of the state.</p>
<p>The suspects arrested include 65 alleged thugs (Yandaba), 22 suspected thieves, 25 individuals involved in drug-related activities, 11 kidnapping suspects, and 9 individuals suspected of engaging in illegal Forex trading from the beginning of the year until now, <strong>Naija News</strong> understands.</p>
<p>During a press briefing in Kano, Gumel highlighted that the command also detained individuals involved in stealing motor vehicles, motorcycles, tricycles, human trafficking, and fraudulent activities, among others, throughout this period.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Gumel disclosed that the police successfully rescued four individuals who were kidnapped and two victims of human trafficking, in addition to recovering various items and goods during the operations.</p>
<p>These recoveries consist of two AK-47 rifles, one locally manufactured pump-action rifle, and four live cartridges.</p>
<p>Gumel disclosed further that from January 1 to date, all forms of major crimes, such as armed robbery, kidnapping,<strong><a href="https://www.naijanews.com/topic/cattle-rustlers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> cattle rustling</a></strong>, car theft, drug dealings, and thuggery, had significantly been reduced in all parts of the state.</p>
<p><em>“The previous threats of daylight and night mobile phone armed robbery are now a story of the past, with no single record in the last two months," </em>he said, adding that the police command has been supported to fight more than two decades of public outcry on cases of missing children, abduction, and kidnapping of minors.</p>
<p><em>“The trend has been significantly surmounted as further efforts are ongoing to recover more and to unite the children with their biological parents,”</em> Gumel added.</p>
<p>Gumel also mentioned that the operation successfully dismantled trans-border syndicates of motor vehicle thieves, resulting in the arrest and recovery of a significant number of stolen vehicles.</p>
<p>Regarding illicit drug activities, the command effectively disrupted the chain of drug dealings by apprehending numerous drug dealers and seizing a large quantity of illicit drugs.</p>
<p>In response to banditry in the border local government areas of the 17 front-line states, Gumel highlighted the collaborative efforts with other security services in conducting raids and joint operations.</p>
<p>This, he said, led to the clearance of bandits' camps and hideouts, ultimately reducing incidents of banditry, kidnapping, and other related crimes.</p>
<p>The Police Commissioner stressed that the command's community policing initiatives had successfully minimized the seasonal farmer/herder clashes in Makoda, Sumaila, and Tudun Wada local government areas through continuous engagement with the local communities.</p>
<p><em>“Robust collaborative policing and the sustained synergy with all security agencies in the state have been one of the vehicles yielding the positive results the police command is achieving.</em></p>
<p><em>“All these achievements by the Kano State Police Command were the result of compliance with and following up with the vision, mission, and guidance of the IGP Egbetokun," </em>Vanguard quoted Gumel saying.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.naijanews.com/2024/03/01/police-arrest-132-suspected-armed-robbers-kidnappers-illicit-drug-dealers-in-kano/">Police Arrest 132 Suspected Armed Robbers, Kidnappers, Illicit Drug Dealers In Kano</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.naijanews.com">Naija News</a>.</p>
