Rebuilding Ukraine: Lviv to support Mariupol on its path to revival

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Rebuilding Ukraine: Lviv to support Mariupol on its path to revival

The mayors of Lviv and Mariupol yesterday signed a Declaration of Solidarity, a joint initiative which is intended to coordinate efforts to rebuild Ukrainian Mariupol, working with state and international institutions. Dozens of partner cities around the world are expected to join this open format of cooperation.

The creation of the Mariupol Reborn Revival Platform was also announced with the support of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, large Ukrainian businesses, international institutions and other cities. The Platform’s expert team will directly develop the city’s revitalisation plan.

Vadym Boychenko, Mayor of Mariupol, said “We believe in our Armed Forces and the inevitability of Ukraine’s victory. That is why we are already working hard to prepare for the liberation of Mariupol. Having high-quality plans in place, along with the necessary resources, will greatly simplify and accelerate the revival of our great city. I am deeply grateful to Andriy Sadovyi and everyone in Lviv, as well as all our partners who are doing so much to support Mariupol and its citizens. Together with Lviv, we are attracting the very best partners, who will be crucial for the success of Mariupol Reborn.”

The Mariupol City Council is already actively planning the first phase of recovery. The “Immediate Response” is aimed at addressing the challenges that will arise immediately after de-occupation. Its goal is to restore the normal life of the city quickly and efficiently. The focus will be on resolving the humanitarian crisis, restarting reliable utilities and administrative services, as well as reviving the transport network, and the education and healthcare systems. It will also involve the restoration of the buildings that have retained their load-bearing capacity, and the implementation of the quick solutions for the temporary resettlement of Mariupol residents whose homes have been destroyed by the Russian occupiers.

Three new offices will be opened very soon to manage the work. The first project office will be in Lviv, providing expert support and training support for the city’s revitalisation team, as well as strategic planning.

The Platform’s office in Dnipro will be responsible for developing the Immediate Response plan and preparing for the restart of municipal enterprises.

The Warsaw office will focus on international cooperation to attract the best urban planning practices and investments in Mariupol Reborn. The expertise developed on the basis of the Revival Platform will help plan the organization of reconstruction in other destroyed cities in Ukraine.

Background information

The Russian occupiers blockaded Mariupol for 80 days and turned it into ruins. The destruction of the city has become one of the greatest tragedies of this war and a symbol of the indomitability of the Ukrainian defenders, who held the defence of Azovstal until the very end.

As a result of Russian aggression, 90% of the vital infrastructure of the city has been damaged, and 50% of apartment buildings have been destroyed. More importantly, at least 22,000 civilians died due to shelling, though the real number could be even higher. Initial estimates suggest the cost of the damage caused by the Russians is more than $14.5 billion.

Mariupol Reborn is the largest urban revitalisation project in Europe since World War II. The project is being implemented on behalf of Pavlo Kyrylenko, Head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, with the support of the EBRD, the World Bank, the USAID Economic Support for Ukraine Project, the SCM Group and Metinvest. They have joined forces to rebuild Mariupol using modern practices, the latest technologies and best practices.

We’ll assemble the facts and knock APC off at tribunal – Ezeife

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We’ll assemble the facts and knock APC off at tribunal – Ezeife

. we’ll meet the in court, Egbuna SAN
. result, a sham – lawyer
. arrest, probe Mahmoud now
– HURIDE

By Chuks Eke

Former Governor Chukwuemeka Ezeife of Anambra state has expressed confidence that the court of competent jurisdiction would quash the result released by the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Yakubu Mahmoud which declared Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC winner of last Saturday’s presidential election in the country.

He contended that all the rigging platforms would be exposed by the time the aggrieved electorate in Nigeria would have done with the assemblage of all the facts and figures associated with the electoral process.

Ezeife who spoke to newsmen on phone in reaction to the electioneering exercise and its attendant results released by INEC, expressed disappointment with the conduct of INEC officials and their materials during the exercise which he said came short of the expectations of the masses.

According to Ezeife, “we are disappointed with the entire process but all hopes are not yet lost because by the time we will assemble the facts and figures associated with the entire process, heads will role and the stolen mandate will be recovered”.

In his own reaction, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Chief Ikenna Egbuna simply said: ” Don’t mind INEC and APC, we shall all meet them in court”.

“They think they are too clever to rig the election”, said Egbuna in a telephone interview yesterday.

Another legal practitioner in Onitsha, Anambra state, Obiora Muojeke, in his own reaction, described the entire process as a sham, daylight robbery on Nigerians and an abuse of electoral process.

Speaking to newsmen at his law chambers in Onitsha yesterday, Muojeke wondered how the results were chunned out manually without recourse to the use of electronics devices earlier promised by the electoral umpire, INEC.

He contended that these malpractices are capable of eroding the confidence reposed on INEC by the Nigerian electorate and by extension the international community.

He therefore urged the losers to complle their evidences and channel same to the Election Petitions Tribunal for adjudication

He also charged the tribunal being the last hope of the electorate to give the petition an accelerated hearing, to enable the case be determined before the swearing in of a new president on May 29,:to avoid heating up the polity which he noted might in turn lead to an uncontrollable demonstrations.

He charged the electorate to remain calm in the face of this unwarranted provocation and watch the outcome of the court of competent jurisdiction.

Meantime, a civil society organization, Human Rights Liberty Access and Peace Defenders Foundation, HURIDE has called for immediate arrest, probe and prosecution of INEC Chairman, Mahmoud for violating the electoral laws during the presidential election.

Specifically, HURIDE said Mahmoud violated sections 63 and 64 of the electoral Act 2022 signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, after it was passed into law by the national assembly, having stipulated that electronics devices would be used for elections in the country.

Chairman of HURIDE, Dede Uzor A. Uzor who made the call in an interview with newsmen yesterday in Onitsha, said the use of BIVAS and IReV devices were recommended for the elections but while BIVAS were used to accredit voters during last Saturday’s presidential election, IReV was not used in uploading and transmitting the results, probably out of parochial interest by INEC and its collaborators to deliver a candidate of their choice.

“We are very much aware that the federal government doled out about N300 billion to INEC to acquire these electronic devices to conduct a credible election and international bodies like EU, AU and ECOWAS also doled out additional billions of dollars too and now INEC has disappointed both Nigerians and the international community”.

“Therefore, I call on EFCC and ICPC to arrest, probe and prosecute Mahmoud to find out how those monies were spent by INEC”.

” If the lossers of the election wish to go to tribunal, they can go but personally, I don’t even have confidence in the Nigerian tribunal because they have been infected by the corruption virus”.

On embarking on a peaceful demonstration. Dede Uzor noted that it is also the right of citizens to do so, provided such a demonstration is peaceful and not allowed to be hijacked by hoodlums.

“As far as I am concerned, Tinubu does not have the mandate of Nigerians but that of Mahmoud who singlehandedly appointed him. His government is not a legitimate one since he does not have the mandate”.

Igbo traders task INEC Chairman on polls credibility

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Igbo traders task INEC Chairman on polls credibility

By Chuks Eke

National President of Igbo Traders Association, Mazi Odumegwu Ukoha (Nwa Fada the Commander) has called on the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mahmood Yakubu to avert any moves to put the Nigerian Nation into anarchy and avoid any attempt to yield into rigging through the delay in uploading and declaring the results from the original results sheets 24hrs after election.

Ukoha in a press statement released in Awka yesterday said alleged video evidences of secret mass voting and thumbprints going on reportedly in various States seem to confirm the rumours making round that some people might use rigging in this election to divide this country .

Sounding a note of warning that the End SARS protests might be a joke compared to the revolution that might erupt in Nigeria if the electoral umpire bungles the election credibility process, the association called on INEC to immediately revert to the votes cast and upload same to the INEC server as captured by BIVAS and counted by the public and signed by all Party agents present during the 25th February, 2023 Election without further delay.

“The commission should reschedule a new and immediate date for the rerun of Elections on those identified polling units across the nation where there were illegalities and ensure that a strong order is made to the security agencies that nobody should be allowed to enter the voting cubicle with a camera phone.

“We warmly thank Mr President Alhaji Muhammad Buhari for approving the use of BIVAS for the 2023 general elections and his open speech that everybody should vote the candidate of his or her choice. We also hereby passionately urge Mr President to make a statement against the Election Ballot Boxes snatching and void Ballot Papers burning that seems to have become a culture of Nigeria during Elections as well as make a statement on the agitation by some self styled pro-Biafra activists who declared sit at home and no election in the southeast”

“Finally, we wish to draw the attention of the INEC Chairman to the rumours making round on Social Media about his assumed concluded plans to rig the 2023 Presidential election in favour of a particular candidate and call on him to make a public statement refuting such article and clear the doubts of Nigerians in some of the gray areas that sounds factual” the group said.

Atiku: A version of self–draconian and monumental political damage – By Isma’il Alkasim

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Atiku: A version of self–draconian and monumental political damage – By Isma’il Alkasim

The genesis of this year’s political movement has aroused a vital reaction in the country. It has been apparent that if not as a result of division line manifested and later consumed the People’s Democratic Party, the election might be a walk over barony for the party. It is obvious that PDP as the main opposition party has failed to discharges its role of holding the ruling party accountable.

Atiku Abubakar the candidate of the party contributed a lot towards the failure of his candidature. In the onset, the calculation of the party should be a southern candidate with a competent northerner as a running mate, but Atiku resort to disposed the wherewithal he holds to promote his self–centred candidature at the expense of the party and now he is counting on it. As someone whose intention of becoming a president, chasing to be a democratically elected, it requires a lot of strategies a minor failure shouldn’t be tolerated because it may outrightly downfall the candidature, instead of understanding the gravity of work ahead Atiku and his team ended up doing things helter–skelter, causing confusing within the party and created an internal brabble comprising a gang of adversaries. It can be seen in APC where the actors are irresistible to any cause of failure whatsoever, the new Naira redesign debacle is a case study whereas APC governors goes to a length and breadth to fight the policy because they wholeheartedly know how it will hunt their political relevance. When the presidential candidate of the APC pick a Muslim running mate, there’s a reaction in the party and they try hard to resolved it, though the party suffer as a result.

Vividly, Atiku Abubakar and his cohorts have suffered a mysterious affliction of strabismic defect to visioned the faulty and damage attached to Obi’s candidature on Atiku’s candidature and let him go his separate way. If there is a shortcut to Tinubu’s emergence it’s an Obi’s helping hand (his candidature), as the strongholds of PDP are South–south and Southeast which have been swept away by Obi with a wide margin, the activities of G-5 also have an implication on Atiku’s downfall.

In the North, we have the Kwankwaso factor which dégringolade Atiku’s ambition particularly in Kano state. Behold, Kwankwaso is one of the people victimized by Atiku Abubakar in PDP but he struck the right note moving forward to NNPP. Atiku might have not less than one million votes in Kano state if he doesn’t parting of the away with Kwankwaso.

Atiku stirred up the hornet’s net and the relevant political players in the PDP camp change horses in the midstream and it’s sore sight for Tinubu which is a version of self–draconian and monumental political damages

Isma’il Alkasim writes from Garki, Jigawa state.
kogasgarki@gmail.com

U.S. urges INEC to address concerns ahead of March 11 polls

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U.S. urges INEC to address concerns ahead of March 11 polls

The U.S. has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to address technical hitches reportedly associated with the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) before the governorship and state assembly elections on March 11.

Ned Price, Spokesperson for the State Department, in a statement, said Nigerians were clearly within their rights to have such concerns and should have high expectations for their electoral processes in the just-concluded Presidential poll.

“We join other international observers in urging INEC to improve in the areas that need the most attention ahead of the March 11 elections.

“We understand that many Nigerians and some of the parties have expressed frustration about the manner in which the process was conducted.

“They have also expressed frustration about the shortcomings of technical elements that were used for the first time in a presidential election cycle,’’ he said.

Price, however, advised the aggrieved presidential candidates to use all legal means to correct the anomaly.

“There are well-established mechanisms in place for the adjudication of electoral disputes, and we encourage any candidate or party seeking to challenge the outcome to pursue redress through those mechanisms.

“We call on all parties, candidates, and supporters to refrain from violence or inflammatory rhetoric at this critical time,’’ the spokesperson said.

In addition, Price commended the active participation of civil society and the media for advancing electoral norms and political discourse on issues of importance to citizens.

He said the U.S. noted with concern reports that numerous members of the media were attacked during the course of the election.

“We urge the government, security forces, political actors, and all citizens to respect the media’s critical role by refraining from any damaging acts against them and ensuring accountability for such acts when they do occur.

“We also congratulate the Nigerian people, especially the large number of youths who are relatively new to the political process, for demonstrating their strong commitment to democracy.’’

According to Price, the United States congratulates the people of Nigeria, President-elect Tinubu, and all political leaders following the declaration by INEC on the results of the February 25 presidential election.

He said that the competitive election represented a new period for Nigerian politics and democracy.

“Each of the top three candidates was the leading vote-getter in 12 states, a remarkable first in Nigeria’s modern political era, reflecting the diversity of views that characterized the campaign and the wishes of Nigeria’s voters.’’

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, on Wednesday announced that Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), won the election with the majority of votes cast across Nigeria.

The APC candidate polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat fellow contenders – Atiku Abubakar of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 6,984,520 votes, Labour Party’s Peter Obi had 6,101,533 votes to come third and candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, who polled 1,496,687 votes to place a distant fourth.

Of the 36 states and FCT, Tinubu, Obi and Atiku won 12 states each while Kwankwaso won only Kano State.

The 12 states won by Tinubu are Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Benue, Rivers, Borno, Zamfara, Jigawa, Ondo, Kogi and Niger.

Atiku of the PDP won Taraba, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Kaduna, Sokoto, Yobe, Bayelsa, Kebbi, Bauchi, Gombe and Katsina States.

Obi won the following states of Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Anambra, Abia, Delta, Edo, FCT, Plateau, Nasarawa, Lagos and Cross River.

Gov. Wike to Commission, Flag-off Projects in Ibadan, Friday

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Gov. Wike to Commission, Flag-off Projects in Ibadan, Friday

Oyo State Government on Friday, will resume another round of commissioning and flag-off of three strategic projects, as Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State is expected in the State.

According to the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr. Wasiu Olatubosun, the projects billed for commissioning are the Dr. Omololu Olunloyo Airport road and the Aviation Fuel Tank Depot.

Also to be flagged-off is the Dr. Omololu Olunloyo Park in Ibadan.

Dr. Olatubosun said the commissioning and flag-off of the three projects will be performed by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.

Olatubosun said the projects are part of the State Government’s quest to boost its economy and create accessible roads in the State.

Olatubosun asserted that while the airport road and the park were executed by Kopek Construction company, the Aviation Fuel Tank was in collaboration with Bovas and Company limited.

He said the Park project on completion will create an additional economic impact in the State.

He said, “this is another opportunity coming to Oyo State, under the leadership of Governor Seyi Makinde. As we all know, his administration has focused on even distribution of infrastructure networks in Oyo State”.

Olatubosun who confirmed the development, disclosed that the soon-to-be commissioned projects will also be beneficial to residents of the airport road.

He stated that the commissioning is expected to boost the domestic economy, as well as industrialization in the country.

Cross River guber: Traditional rulers endorse Prince Otu

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Cross River guber: Traditional rulers endorse Prince Otu

“We Are Going To Demonstrate That Government In Cross River State Has Always Been Turn By Turn.” –  HRM, Etim Okon Edet

Chairman of Cross River State traditional rulers council, HRM (Dr.) Etim Okon Edet has assured the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Senator (Prince) Bassey Otu of the resolve of the entire members of the traditional institution in the state to support his ambition and ensure his victory at the polls come March 11.

The royal father made the statement when the gubernatorial hopeful visited the state traditional rulers in Calabar to seek their royal blessings.

Speaking on the spiritual, psychological and emotional stability of Prince Otu, Dr. Etim Okon Edet said: “You have always been a good person. When you went to the national assembly, you did not disappoint the people. How much more when you become a governor of the state. Your records are there in public.

“I also know that you are born again and the bible says that it is only those who are born again that will see the kingdom of God. You will not only see, but you will enter the kingdom of God because you are a child of God.”

According to Dr. Okon Edet who is also the Paramount Ruler of Bakassi Local Government Area, it was important that the entire citizens of the state rise against any ploy to destabilize the unity and peace by insisting on the zoning policy in the state that has been strictly the inception of the current democratic dispensation in 1999.

“Everyone knows that in Cross River State, we have been having a turn by turn arrangement. We are going to demonstrate that power must return to south. We are the spirits of this state, no individual should allow our spirit to be down. We do not only custody the traditional culture of this state, we also custody the political culture of this state. No one should disrupt the peace and zoning system that we enjoy in this state,” the monarch said.

The traditional rulers then prayed for Prince Otu while assuring him of their determination to move into their villages to solicit support for him.

N109Bn Fraud Trial: No Document Missing in Ex- AGF, Idris’ Case File

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N109Bn Fraud Trial: No Document Missing in Ex- AGF, Idris’ Case File

…Trial Within Trial Begins on Defendants’ Statements

The alleged N109 billion corruption and money laundering trial of former Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris continued today before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory with a trial within trial to determine whether the statements made by the defendants to the EFCC were obtained voluntarily.

Idris was re-arraigned alongside Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited on October 27, 2022 on a 13-counts charge that bordered on alleged misappropriation of the sum of N109 billion

The court had on November 23, 2022 adjourned hearing in the case after counsel to the 1st defendant objected to further evidence by prosecution witness, Hayatudeen Suleiman who had been examined on 13 of the statements made by the 1st defendant. He was testifying on the 13th statement already presented to the court when the defence objected, alleging that the statement was obtained from the defendant under duress.

The trial resumed today for a trial within trial to prove the voluntariness, or otherwise, of the statements by the defendants. Attempt by the defence counsel, Chris Uche, SAN, to argue the contention of the 1st defendant that his statements were obtained under duress was objected to by Leke Atolagbe who appeared for the prosecution. He argued that the onus was on the prosecution to prove that the statements by the defendants were obtained voluntarily. The court agreed with him.

However, proceedings could however not continue after the defence counsel, Uche, SAN observed that the 13th statement obtained on 5th July, 2022, on which the prosecution counsel sought to examine his witness, was omitted from the proof of evidence front-loaded to the court by the prosecution.

The prosecution acknowledged the inadvertent omission and sought for an adjournment to produce the statement.

Justice Halilu Yusuf adjourned till May 11, for continuation of trial.

APC Murder Allegation of HRH Igboke: Ebonyi APGA Demands Apology, Threatens Libel Suit Over Odoh’s Character Defamation

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APC Murder Allegation of HRH Igboke: Ebonyi APGA Demands Apology, Threatens Libel Suit Over Odoh’s Character Defamation
From Mba Nnenna- Abakaliki.
The All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Ebonyi state has condemned the allegations of the ruling APC in the state, over murder of HRH Eze Igboke of Ezza nation.
In a press release signed and issued by the state Publicity Secretary, Nwanchor Chibuike, APGA despises the allegation, stating its unacceptable.
Nwanchor therefore demands an Apology from APC and its Publicity Secretary, Ogbuatu Simbad, or pay fine of 2 billion naira for reputational damage done to its guber candidate, Odoh.
The letter reads;
“The All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in Ebonyi State has read with incredulity and unbelief a half-baked press release attributed to the docile Press Secretary of the Ebonyi State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC Mr. Chidi Ogbuatu in which amongst many other defamatory, spurious allegations he claimed that the candidate of our party and the frontline candidate for Ebonyi Governor Prof. Bernard Ifeanyichukwu Odoh is culpable in the despicable, condemnable and unacceptable murder of the Chairman, Ezza Traditional Rulers Council, His Majesty Eze Igboke Ewa.
“It’s most unfortunate that the APC had to make such allegations despite the great grief Prof. Odoh had been thrown into by the death of the late traditional ruler who had been like a father to him.
“The APGA received the news of the death with rude shock. We condole the family of His Majesty Eze Igboke.
“It’s worrisome that Ogbuatu could not allow the police complete its investigations before coming up with the allegations, and this leaves us with no option than concluding that Ogbuatu was a party to the murder of the late revered traditional ruler.
“While we call on the police to arrest Ogbuatu and his cronies, we equally call on Ogbuatu and the APC to immediately retract this press release in national dailies or prepare to substantiate the allegations in the law court or pay the sum of 2 billion naira as cost for the reputational damage done to our guber candidate.
Finally, we seize this opportunity to alert security agencies,  the Inspector-General of Police, the Director General of the Directorate of State Security Services, and  the National Intelligence Agency ( NIA) to the evil machinations of political desperados in Ebonyi State. We plead with them to properly investigate this worrisome murder, checkmate the activities of political desperados and bring the perpetrators into the books.”

Ebonyi Traditional Ruler’s Murder: APC Accuses APGA Guber As Culprit

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Ebonyi Traditional Ruler’s Murder: APC Accuses APGA Guber As Culprit
From Mba Nnenna- Abakaliki
The All Progressive Congress (APC) has accused the Guber Candidate, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA)  Prof Odoh over murder of the Chairman, Ezza Traditional Ruler Council, HRH Eze Igboke Ewa.
247ureports gathered that the deceased, was murdered on Monday evening, 27, 2023 by unknown gunmen at his residence in Ebonyi State.
It was said that the deceased was allegedly killed owing to his support for the ruling party, All Progressive Congress(APC) in the state.
The gunmen upon killing the deceased,  went after his children, who luckily  escaped.
In a statement signed by the APC Publicity Secretary, Hon.Simbad Ogbuatu and made available to journalists in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Hon.Ogbuatu accused the APGA guber candidate of sponsoring the assassination of HRH Eze Igboke.
The Statement reads: “the State Working Committee of the APC Ebonyi State has received with rude shock the gruesome murder of the Chairman, Ezza Traditional Rulers Council, His Majesty Eze Igboke Ewa in the evening of Monday, 27th February, 2023 by Odoh, the APGA gubernatorial candidate in Ebonyi State as his murderous terrorist gang.
“Imagine the extent Odoh could go because of politics even when he knows he won’t be the Governor of Ebonyi State even if he contested the position 100 times.
“What was the offence of His Majesty Eze Igboke? He joined others to celebrate the victory of the APC in the three Senatorial Zones of Ebonyi State in the last election. That was all. Must Odoh kill even his own traditional ruler because of his bitterness and hate for Governor Umahi?
The APC further call on the Inspector General of Police, IGP, the CP, Ebonyi State, the DSS and all security agencies to swing into action and arrest the culprits wherever they may be, while affirming that Odoh and his group have been exposed as murders.
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