The funeral of Pope Francis, who died aged 88, has begun at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican, where hundreds of thousands of Catholic faithful have gathered to bid farewell to the pontiff.

Pope Francis died from complications following a stroke and heart failure.

The ceremony has drawn an extensive list of international dignitaries, including at least 50 heads of state, 10 reigning monarchs and 130 national delegations.

French President Emmanuel Macron, US President Donald Trump, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Britain’s Prince William and former US President Joe Biden are among the attendees.

From the Middle East, Joseph Aoun, the president of Lebanon, home to a sizeable Christian community, as well as King Abdullah of Jordan and his wife Queen Rania are attending the ceremony.

Pro-Fubara protesters in Rivers State are demanding that suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, should not be coerce into joining any party even as they called on him to run as Atiku Abubakar’s vice presidential candidate in 2027.

In a trending video online posted on Facebook by some supporters of Gov. Fubara, a lady in black an ardent supporter of suspended Gov Fubara, alongside other protesters apparently registering their anger in the clip declared that:

“We want Fubara returned as Governor. We’re waiting for our own northern collaboration, what we want is for our Governor, to run as vice president with Atiku Abubakar.

“Yesterday (Wednesday) our Governor met with Wike and he was told to support Tinubu, what kind of arrangement is that, we’re not in support of that.

The group’s leader apparently exhibited the position of Fubara as their support is for Atiku/Fubara ticket.

There is no smoke without fire as 2027 macabre dance by Fubara got exposed.

Former member of the House of Representatives and ex-presidential adviser Dr. Usman Bugaje has accused Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), of systematically using money to induce defections from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking in an interview with Arise News, Bugaje claimed that the APC has been aggressively targeting opposition figures, leveraging both financial incentives and potential legal threats.

His words: “Well, for what I know—and I don’t claim to know everything—the APC is basically using money to buy off PDP.

“Some say it’s a carrot and stick approach. The money is the carrot. What’s the stick? Possibly the EFCC. They might do these kinds of things. This has been the practice since the time of President Obasanjo.”

Bugaje argued that the root cause of the ongoing wave of defections is money, warning that such practices pose a grave threat to Nigeria’s democratic system.

He said: “For me, this is a very serious issue. This should be the center of our political discourse. As long as money remains the determining factor, then that’s the end of democracy and the end of politics.”

His comments come in the wake of a major political shake-up in Delta State, where Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who was also the PDP’s 2023 vice-presidential candidate, defected to the APC. They were joined by members of the National Assembly, State Assembly, and several local government chairmen.

Bugaje stated that he is skeptical about the PDP’s ability to function as an effective opposition.

“There has not been real opposition since the moment Nyesom Wike did what he did,” Bugaje said.

“The PDP missed its chance to be a viable opposition party. Just look at their conduct on major national issues—from emergency rule debates to budget discussions. They failed to act like an opposition,” he added.