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Governors and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from Northern Nigeria have demanded that the presidential ticket of the party be zoned to the southern part of the country.

The governors stated their position in a public statement signed by 10 of them and the leader of the party in Sokoto State, Aliyu Wamakko.

A total of 22 of Nigerias 36 states are governed by the APC. Fourteen of the governors are from the North, while eight are from the South.

Only four northern APC state governors did not sign the statement. Two of them, Yahaya Bello of Kogi and Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa, are among the APCs 23 presidential aspirants.

The 10 Northern APC governors that signed the statement are those of Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Niger, Nasarawa, Zamfara, Gombe, Borno, Plateau and Kebbi.

The statement by the Northern governors comes a few days after President Muhammadu Buhari told APC governors that he wanted to pick his successor and needs their support to do so.

Mr Buhari did not, however, name his preferred candidate, thus leaving room for speculations.

At the time of this report, Mr Buhari was meeting with the 23 presidential aspirants of the APC.

Before the stance of the northern APC governors, their colleagues from the south had unanimously stated that the partys presidential candidate should be from the southern part of the country.

Read the full statement by the Northern APC governors below.

APC governors and political leaders from the northern states of Nigeria today met to review the political situation and to further support our Party in providing progressive leadership amidst our national challenges. During our discussions, we welcomed President Muhammadu Buharis invitation to governors and other stakeholders to contribute to the emergence of a strong presidential candidate for the APC.

After careful deliberation, we wish to state our firm conviction that after eight years in office of President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC for the 2023 elections should be one of our teeming members from the southern states of Nigeria. It is a question of honour for the APC, an obligation that is not in anyway affected by the decisions taken by another political party. We affirm that upholding this principle is in the interest of building a stronger, more united and more progressive country.

We therefore wish to strongly recommend to President Muhammadu Buhari that the search for a successor as the APCs presidential candidate be limited to our compatriots from the southern states. We appeal to all aspirants from the northern states to withdraw in the national interest and allow only the aspirants from the south to proceed to the primaries. We are delighted by the decision of our esteemed colleague, His Excellency, Governor Abubakar Badaru to contribute to this patriotic quest by withdrawing his presidential aspiration.

The APC has a duty to ensure that the 2023 elections offer a nation-building moment, reaffirming that a democratic pathway to power exists for all who value cooperation and build national platforms. This moment calls for the most sober and inclusive approach to selecting our partys candidate, and we call on all APC leaders to fulfil their responsibility in this regard.

Signed, 4th June 2022:

1. Aminu Bello Masari Governor of Katsina State

2. Abubakar Sani Bello Governor of Niger State

3. Abdullahi A. Sule Governor of Nasarawa State

4. Prof. B.G. Umara Zulum Governor of Borno State

5. Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai Governor of Kaduna State

6. Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya Governor of Gombe State

7. Bello M. Matawalle Governor of Zamfara State

8. Simon Bako Lalong Governor of Plateau State

9. Senator Aliyu Wamakko Former Governor of Sokoto State

10. Dr. A.U. Ganduje Governor of Kano State

11. Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu Governor of Kebbi State

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2023: Northern APC governors meet, want presidency zoned to the South - Premium Times

Vladimir Putins time as Russian president has long featured a quiet campaign of disinformation and censorship at home. However, it is only since Russia began its all-out war on Ukraine that the world has truly woken up to this. In recent months, the Russian authorities have shuttered the countrys last independent media outlets, banned platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, and implemented laws that make free speech in the form of anti-war statements punishable by as much as 15 years in prison. So far, the regime has arrested more than 15,000 people for demonstrating against the war, which is acting as a powerful deterrent. For those willing to risk arrest, censorship makes it difficult to discover how many others share their opposition to the war, and hinders the organisation of protests.

Along with the repression of dissent, the Kremlin has manipulated Russias already twisted information ecosystem to promote its own version of events in Ukraine. This goes beyond the daily state-media lies about defeats, casualties, and objectives. The Russian authorities have also gone to great lengths to manufacture photographs and videos, including deepfakes (albeit those of questionable quality). For example, the Kremlin published photos and videos purporting to show that the flagship of Russias Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva, sank after catching fire in a storm when all the evidence seems to indicate that it was hit by Ukrainian missiles. Moreover, school-aged Russians are now subjected to the Ministry of Educations mandatory videos explaining the war.

This toxic marriage of censorship and disinformation damages the prospects for peace in Ukraine. It is difficult to see why a critical majority of Russians would pressure President Vladimir Putin to end his brutal obsession with Ukraine when they are made to believe that the war is a limited special operation, exaggerated by a Russia-hating West, a necessary act of self-defence, and a heroic bid to liberate decent Ukrainians from their neo-Nazi government. But understanding how and why these beliefs pervade Russian society will be fundamental to overcoming them. Here, psychology can help policymakers understand, predict, and modify censored and misinformed behaviour.

Social identity is particularly decisive in Russian repression. The Kremlin has skilfully exploited peoples need to belong to an in-group, tendency to resent an out-group, and desire for a prestigious identity. Throughout his reign, Putin has repeatedly referred to a shared community of iskonnye rossiiskie (primordial Russian) values along the same lines as his imperial and Soviet predecessors to establish a nationalist in-group while dramatically increasing hostility towards the West. For instance, in his recent Victory Day speech, he portrayed himself as a katechon a force that prevents the coming of the Antichrist to crystallise Russians sense of group identity.

This toxic marriage of censorship and disinformation damages the prospects for peace in Ukraine

Cognitive biases can help facilitate information warfare. For instance, availability bias can cause people to engage almost exclusively with readily available information and thereby avoid critical thinking (or further thinking of any kind). Similarly, confirmation bias the tendency to believe information that confirms pre-existing beliefs helps explain why a recent public opinion poll found that 89 per cent of Russians believed the aim of the current military operation was to protect and defend civilians in Ukraine, prevent an attack on Russia, or combat Ukrainian nationalists and denazify Ukraine. These responses which to the West may be blatant disinformation reflect what most Russians see as a heroic truth, as it confirms the group identities they have been fed by the Kremlin. Counter-narratives, which are the current defence of choice for key media outlets and EU initiatives such as the East StratCom Task Force, will not be enough to overcome this by themselves.

Of course, Ukrainians and EU citizens are also subject to cognitive biases and the dynamics of social identity. For example, Ukraine has sometimes used group psychology to create imaginary heroes such as an ace fighter pilot in Kyivs skies, aiming to boost morale and discredit Russia. Meanwhile, sensationalist headlines that label Russia a terrorist state draw a large audience not just because there is some truth to them but also because they satisfy readers desire to confirm pre-existing beliefs.

It is unsurprising that such techniques succeed in conflict zones and a repressive Russia at a time when conspiracy theories have even become widespread in some of the worlds freest media environments, making it harder for governments to contain a deadly pandemic and leading millions to reject the legitimacy of the 2020 US presidential election. As technology expert and former MEP Marietje Schaake argued in a recent ECFR policy discussion: disinformation and state propaganda doesnt just start when a tanks roll over a border.

However, there are also reasons for hope. Despite the Kremlins propaganda, demonstrations recently unfolded in more than 60 Russian cities. This is remarkable not just for the bravery of the organisers and other participants but also for their potential impact: protests in highly repressive contexts tend to be more successful than those in less repressive ones, because the signal of dissent is stronger. And many Russians are on a quest for the truth. Downloads of virtual private networks online tools that allow for some degree of freedom of expression increased by 2,692 per cent between 24 February and 31 March, making up Russias top three app-store searches during roughly the same period. Meanwhile, George Orwells works on repression are popular in Russia perhaps prompting the Russian Foreign Ministrys recent revival of the Soviet claim that 1984 is about the end of [Western] liberalism rather than totalitarianism.

In the context of Russias war on Ukraine, in which public perceptions are linked to the prospects for peace, European states need to adapt their information campaigns to the realities of information warfare. So far, their attempts to combat the Kremlins tactics have come from intelligence sharing, open-source fact-checking, and messaging. But disinformation and censorship cannot be countered purely through efforts to promote accurate information. If European states are to succeed in the task, their policies will need to account for the individual and group psychology that shapes the information landscape.

The European Council on Foreign Relations does not take collective positions. ECFR publications only represent the views of their individual authors.

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Putins war at home: Censorship and disinformation - European Council on Foreign Relations

Earlier this month, thousands of software developers in China woke up to find that their open-source code hosted on Gitee, a state-backed Chinese competitor to the international code repository platform GitHub, had been locked and hidden from public view.

Gitee released a statement later that day explaining that the locked code was being manually reviewed, as all open-source code would need to be before being published from then on. The company didnt have a choice, it wrote. Gitee didnt respond to MIT Technology Review, but it is widely assumed that the Chinese government had imposed yet another bit of heavy-handed censorship.

For the open-source software community in China, which celebrates transparency and global collaboration, the move has come as a shock. Code was supposed to be apolitical. Ultimately, these developers fear it could discourage people from contributing to open-source projects, and Chinas software industry will suffer as a result.Read the full story.

Zeyi Yang

The must-reads

Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Americas children are more anxious than everAnd it runs deeper than the pandemic. (NYT $)+ The relentless stream of bad news is making us all feel bad. (Wired $)+ How to mend your broken pandemic brain. (MIT Technology Review)

2 Digital surveillance programs make immigrants feel like prisonersTheyre touted as a more humane alternative to detention, but ankle tags carry stigma and stoke anxiety. (Coda Story)+ The CIA and US military are spending huge amounts of money on metaverse projects. (The Intercept)

3 The Wikipedia editor exposing the predatory world of cryptomaniaThat doesnt mean shes reveling in its current implosion. (WP $)+ Six months into the crypto crash, investors are making the same mistakes. (Motherboard)+ Fraudsters are using a deepfake of Elon Musk to steal crypto. (Motherboard) + This crypto reality dating show sounds like a parody of itself. (Input Mag)

4 A new ancestry-predicting DNA tool is solving missing-people mysteries But experts are wary that DNA phenotyping could further fuel racial discrimination in policing. (NYT $)+ Our museums are a treasure trove of genomic data. (Ars Technica)

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The Download: Open source censorship in China, and US kids are more anxious than ever - MIT Technology Review

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is in the middle of a two-week visit to the United States, with the stated aim of boosting trade and tourism, after NZ ditched almost all its COVID-19 restrictions and reopened the border.

Ardern is accompanied by Trade Minister Damien OConnor and representatives from major NZ companies including dairy exporter Fonterra, meat processor Silver Fern Farms, and kiwifruit exporter Zespri.

In a press release, Ardern made clear that the US relationship is fundamental to us in political and security terms too. She will meet President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, and they will discuss New Zealands role in the US-NATO war against Russia, and in the growing preparations for war against China.

It is Arderns second overseas trip since the pandemic began. Last month, she visited Japan, where she signed an intelligence-sharing agreement, helping to bring Japan into closer alignment with the US-led Five Eyes spy network.

Arderns US visit has been overshadowed by the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde. In response to these horrific events, she echoed the banal statements of Biden and other politicians, which are aimed at preventing any serious discussion of their underlying social and political causes.

In her commencement address to Harvard University graduates last Thursday, and during an earlier appearance on the Late Show, Ardern was applauded for mentioning New Zealands gun control measures. The countrys parliament banned military-style assault rifles following the March 15, 2019 terror attack, in which fascist gunman Brenton Tarrant killed 51 people at two Christchurch mosques.

In her Harvard speech, Ardern said nothing about the role of far-right politicians, including Donald Trump, in fuelling Tarrants ideology. Instead, she blamed the attack on social media and promoted her governments push for global internet censorship, dubbed the Christchurch Call to Action.

Ardern lamented the declining influence of mainstream media outlets, that is, those which serve corporate interests, and urged social media companies to work with governments to develop responsible algorithms to stop disinformation.

What this means in practice can be seen in New Zealand, where the Labour Party-led government has already boosted the powers and resources of the Office of the Censor to rapidly take down online content deemed extremist. The real target of such measures is not the far-right, but working people, who are moving to the left.

New Zealand, like the US, is seething with class tensions. Ardern portrayed the country as a sort of identity politics paradise, telling her privileged audience: Almost 50 percent of our parliament are women, 20 percent are Mori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, and our deputy prime minister is a proud gay man.

She did not mention that her diverse Labour-Greens coalition government has used the pandemic to engineer the biggest transfer of wealth from the working class to the rich in New Zealands history. Tens of billions of dollars have been handed to corporations and the banks, while real wages are going backwards amid the soaring cost of living. Nearly one in four children lives in poverty, while homelessness and reliance on charity are at record levels.

Workers are seeking a means to fight back, with a nationwide strike by 10,000 healthcare workers held earlier this month. Low-paid hospital workers face chronic staff shortages, made worse by the constant stream of sick and dying COVID-19 patients.

The New Zealand government is now following the US and other countries in removing all public health restrictions and allowing COVID to infect millions of people. While visiting the US, where hundreds are dying from the virus every day, Ardern promoted the lie that the pandemic is over, as she encouraged tourists to return to New Zealand.

In an interview which was basically an advertorial for New Zealand, Late Show host Stephen Colbert congratulated Ardern on the countrys relatively low COVID death toll of more than 1,000 people in a country of five million. Ardern explained that this was because we decided that we would try and eliminate, just get rid of COVID, using lockdowns and border quarantine measures.

Ardern said New Zealand had adopted this policy because we just couldnt stand the idea of our population being devastated when we could do something about it It was the right thing to do, it saved so many lives. She said the border had remained closed for the entirety of the pandemic, implying that the restrictions are being lifted now because the pandemic is over.

Arderns presentation was false from start to finish. Her Labour Party-led government, supported by the nurses and teachers unions, initially opposed a nationwide lockdown. The measure was announced in late March 2020, not out of altruism, but because the ruling class feared a mass movement developing among tens of thousands of healthcare workers and others, who were demanding action to stop the virus.

Ardern failed to mention that New Zealands elimination policy was abandoned last October, against the advice of public health experts, and that the Omicron variant has spread like wildfire. Following the instructions of the corporate and financial elite, which is totally unconcerned about protecting lives and views all public health measures as a barrier to profit-making, the NZ government has embraced the criminal policy of mass infection.

Quarantine-free travel is resuming just as New Zealand is in the middle of a deadly surge, which is expected to get worse as the country heads into winter. The vast majority of the more than 1,100 COVID-related deaths happened in the last three months, following the reopening of schools for in-person learning.

According to Worldometers, New Zealand recorded 20 COVID deaths per million in the past seven days, the eighth-highest weekly death rate in the world. More than one million people in the country have been infected, meaning there could be hundreds of thousands suffering from Long COVID.

Seeking to minimise the danger posed by the virus, Ardern joked with Colbert about her own recent infection, saying she got COVID for Mothers Day from her partner, and she did not recommend it as a gift.

The virus has, however, disrupted Arderns US trip. So far, three members of her delegation have tested positive, including Ministry of Foreign Affairs chief Chris Seed and Arderns chief press secretary Andrew Campbell. California Governor Gavin Newsom also revealed he had tested positive the day after meeting Ardern in San Francisco.

Despite this spate of infections, Arderns meeting with Biden is still scheduled to go ahead. As the world hurtles towards war, Ardern told the media that she would encourage greater US engagement in the Pacific region. This is meant to push back against Chinas growing influence and to defend the NZ ruling classs own interests in its neo-colonial patch.

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New Zealand PM in the US promotes internet censorship, downplays pandemic - WSWS

TAUNTON The spring sports regular season has all but concluded, with a few remaining make up games ahead of another busy tournament season for Greater Taunton area teams.

Taunton baseball finished the season strong with back-to-back wins at home and on the road against Milford. Taunton softball scored a big win over top-rated Bishop Feehanand beat both Milford and Newton Northbefore falling to Feehan on the road to wrap up their regular season. Bristol-Plymouth baseball had a strong comeback win over West Bridgewater in their regular season finale and Dighton-Rehoboth softball's Eliana Raposohit 150 strikeouts on the seasonin the final game of their regular season.

Dighton-Rehoboth baseball's Hayden Bessette is theTaunton Daily GazettePlayer of the Week for May 16-21, receiving 31% of the vote. Dighton-Rehoboth girls lacrosse's Kylie Palmer came in second with 25% while Bristol-Plymouth baseball's Colin Wilbur finished third with 24% of the vote.

Now is the time to choose theTaunton Daily GazettePlayer of the Week for May 23-28, with polls open through noon Sunday and votes limited to one vote per device per hour.

BASEBALL

Evan Cali, Taunton

Cali went two-for-four with two runs against Milford.

Cam Morrison, Bridgewater-Raynham

Morrison went two-for-three with a pair of doubles and an RBI against New Bedford.

Brayden Alves, Bristol-Plymouth

Alves had two hits and three RBIs against Shepherd Hill.

Jacob Suprenard, Dighton-Rehoboth

Suprenard had three hits and four RBIs against Seekonk.

SOFTBALL

Hayley Krockta, Taunton

Krockta wenttwo-for-four with a pair of runs and a pair of RBIs for Newton North.

Emma Flaherty, Bridgewater-Raynham

Flaherty had two hits and three RBIs against Plymouth North.

Eliana Raposo, Dighton-Rehoboth

Raposo tossed a complete game shutout giving up two hits and three walks while striking out 13 against Seekonk.

BOYS LACROSSE

Dawson DuBose, Bridgewater-Raynham

DuBose had four goals against Silver Lake.

Bryce Downs, Dighton-Rehoboth

Downs scored all four goals against Old Rochester.

GIRLS LACROSSE

Cali Melo, Taunton

Melo had three goals against Attleboro.

Ashley McLaren, Bridgewater-Raynham

McLarenhad two goals against Silver Lake.

Lily Nees, Dighton-Rehoboth

Nees had three goals against Apponequet.

BOYS TENNIS

Nate Conti, Dighton-Rehoboth

Conti won third singles 6-1, 6-1 against Seekonk.

GIRLS TENNIS

Nicole Kimball, Bridgewater-Raynham

Kimball won first singles6-0, 6-0 against Durfee.

BOYS TRACK AND FIELD

Dmitrius Shearrion, Taunton

Shearrion finished fourth in the 200 meter with a time of 0:21.82, a new school record, at the Division I State Championship.

Kauan Bento, Bridgewater-Raynham

Bento finished seventh in the 200 meter with a personal best time of 0:22.67 at the Division II State Championship.

Wyatt Lee, Bristol-Plymouth

Lee finished ninth in the two mile with a time of 10:06.06 at the Division IV State Championship.

Nathan Ferreira, Dighton-Rehoboth

Ferreira finished 12th in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.5 atthe Division IV State Championship.

GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD

Nia Mainer-Smith,Taunton

Mainer-Smith finished sixth in the 200 meter with a personal best time of 0:25.95 atthe Division I State Championship.

Nethica Auguste, Bridgewater-Raynham

Auguste won the triple jump and broke the school record with a distance of 36'10.5 at the Division II State Championship.

Sarah Charbonneau, Dighton-Rehoboth

Charbonneau finished fifth in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:10.16 at the Division IV State Championship.

Who is the Taunton Daily Gazette Player of the Week for May 23-28

Evan Cali, Taunton

Cam Morrison, Bridgewater-Raynham

Brayden Alves, Bristol-Plymouth

Jacob Suprenard, Dighton-Rehoboth

Hayley Krockta, Taunton

Emma Flaherty, Bridgewater-Raynham

Eliana Raposo, Dighton-Rehoboth

Dawson DuBose, Bridgewater-Raynham

Bryce Downs, Dighton-Rehoboth

Cali Melo, Taunton

Ashley McLaren, Bridgewater-Raynham

Lily Nees, Dighton-Rehoboth

Nate Conti, Dighton-Rehoboth

Nicole Kimball, Bridgewater-Raynham

Dmitrius Shearrion, Taunton

Kauan Bento, Bridgewater-Raynham

Wyatt Lee, Bristol-Plymouth

Nathan Ferreira, Dighton-Rehoboth

Nia Mainer-Smith,Taunton

Nethica Auguste, Bridgewater-Raynham

Sarah Charbonneau, Dighton-Rehoboth

Taunton Daily Gazette sports reporter Cameron Merritt can be reached at cmerritt@tauntongazette.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @CamMerritt_News. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to the Taunton Daily Gazette today.

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Who is the Taunton Daily Gazette Player of the Week for May 23-28 - Taunton Daily Gazette