The National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, on Monday reserved judgment in a petition filed by the candidate of All Progressives Congress, Dapo Abiodun, challenging the election of Buruji Kashamu as Senator representing Ogun-East in the National Assembly. Abiodun is challenging the election of the Peoples Democratic Party candidate in the March 28 National Assembly Election, in a case numbered EPT/SEN/ABK/001/2015. At the resumed hearing, all the counsel in the matter adopted their final addresses and made final submissions to further convince the court on their cases. But after listening to…
Author: Wale Adebayo
The Ondo State chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused the state governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of using the state’s resources to sponsor some members of the Peoples Democratic Party’s National Working Committee, particularly, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, on a monthly basis. The APC, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary in the state, Omoba Adesanya, therefore, asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to probe alleged mismanagement of the state’s funds by the Mimiko administration. The APC said, “We reliably gathered that Olisa Metuh and some PDP national officers are on the payroll of the…
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday requested the approval of the Senate for a $75m credit facility from the World Bank on behalf of the Edo State Government. In a letter he addressed to Senate President Bukola Saraki and read on the floor during plenary, Buhari explained that the amount was the second tranche of the $225m development policy programme approved for the state by the multilateral financial institution in 2012. He further pointed out that the executive directors of the bank approved the second tranche of the loan having expressed satisfaction with the successful usage of the first tranche of…
As the August 29, 2015 Kogi State governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, draws nearer, a former governor of the state, Prince Abubakar Audu, has picked his nomination form. The aspirant, who was accompanied by a large number of supporters, addressed journalists shortly after obtaining the form at the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja, Monday. Also on his entourage to the secretariat was the former Governor of Kano State and incumbent senator representing Kano Central in the Senate, Engr. Rabiu Kwankwaso. Audu, who said he was in the governorship race “to take the state out of…
The Against Injustice Group has lampooned the Peoples Democratic Party for seeking the removal of the Director General of the Department of State Service, Alhaji Lawal Daura. The group, in a letter sent to President Muhammadu Buhari and signed by its lawyer, Dotun Hassan, on Monday, said the call for the reversal of Daura’s appointment as the DSS boss by the PDP was unsubstantiated and against his fundamental human rights. It said that Buhari’s appointment of Daura was commendable and in order. The PDP is seeking Daura’s removal on grounds that he is a card-carrying member of the governing party,…
The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Onaiyekan, has said that the present administration of Muhammadu Buhari has no excuse to fail. Bishop Onaiyekan spoke Monday evening after a thanksgiving mass organised in honour of his 46th priestly anniversary, at the Catholic Pro Cathedral, Our Lady Queen of Nigeria, Abuja. He said leaders in Africa and Nigeria have been around for a while, and should have clear directions of how to develop their countries. “Many of the present leaders have been there for the past 50 years. Take Buhari, for example. He was president more than 30 years ago”, Bishop Onaiyekan…
The Defence Headquarters has a new director of information. He is Rabe Abubakar, a colonel. Mr. Abubakar took over from Chris Olukolade, a major general, who is proceeding on retirement after 35 years of meritorious service in the military and to the nation in general, though still remain in active service till September 2015. While addressing the media shortly after taking over, Mr. Abubakar said he was aware and conscious of the security challenges in the country and the need for collective efforts to confront it. “There is absolute need for synergy of efforts and collaboration among all stakeholders to…
Health workers under the umbrella of Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU)/Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (AHPA) have raised the alarm over plans by the Federal Government to privatise public health institutions. The workers who include all the professionals in the health sector besides doctors, yesterday, at a press briefing in Lagos, cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) against the proposed healthcare agenda and health sector restructuring which they argued will not serve the best interest of Nigeria. The workers, therefore, called for a truly broad-based platform of professional associations and unions in the health sector to come up with a health…
Nigeria’s First Lady, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, has donated an undisclosed sum of money to the 48 victims of last month’s bomb blast in Gombe who are on admission at the Federal Teaching and Specialist Hospitals in Gombe. Hajiya Aisha Jibir, a member representing Dukku/Nafada Federal Constituency of Gombe State, who made the donation on behalf of the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, said she was sent by Aisha to commiserate with them and give them a token to relieve them of their suffering. “The President wife was told about the condition of the blast victims, and being a caring…
President Buhari’s trip to the United States has continued to yield fruits as it emerged, yesterday, in Abuja, that the US may soon relax or completely lift its restriction on military assistance to Nigeria. The US had placed embargo on arms sales to Nigeria under the ‘Leahy Law’ following allegations of human rights abuses by the Nigerian military in the fight against terrorism. US congressman, Darell Issah, who led a delegation of the Judicial Committee, made the disclosure after a meeting with the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Alhaji Aliyu Ismaila, the Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Olonishakin, and Service…
Leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in conjunction with the heads of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), yesterday, held a closed door meeting, aimed at repositioning the church in Nigeria under the current political dispensation. Present at the meeting were CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, his PFN counterpart, Dr. Felix Omobude, and Bishop Simeon Okah, PFN Vice President, South South, who hosted the parley among other leaders of both Christian bodies. Although Oritsejafor ignored newsmen as he left the meeting, Bishop Okah who hosted the talk, however, told Vanguard, “I won’t go into details but in a…
Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Dr. Paul Orhii has been summoned by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the mismanagement of the agency’s funds, it has emerged. Former NAFDAC Director of Finance and Accounts, Ademola Mogbojuri, who was surreptitiously moved from his Abuja office to Kaduna by Orhii, might also be invited by the EFCC to confront the DG with evidence of his misdeeds before final decision is taken on what next to do with him, Vanguard reports. Orhii was questioned for hours, yesterday, by a crack team…
Rivers State former Governor, Rotimi Amaechi has accused former President Goodluck Jonathan of unilaterally increasing the country’s subsidy claim from 300 billion naira to 1.9 trillion naira. 300 billion naira was in place during the late President Umaru Yar’Adua government. “The fuel subsidy was N300 billion under former President Olusegun Obasanjo and it remained the same under late President Yar’Adua. Within six months under President Jonathan, the fuel subsidy rose from N300 billion to N1.9 trillion. Yet, Jonathan wanted more money for fuel subsidy,” he said at a reception organised for him by a Committee of Friends at the International…
President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) has asked the Federal Ministry of Education to include two Islamic Studies books written by the late Justice Muhammad Bashir Sambo in the secondary school curriculum for all Federal Government Colleges. Buhari said this, weekend, in Kaduna while launching the reviewed editions of the books which were first published in 1974. He was represented by Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State. The President noted that such books had become essential in the face of declining moral and religious values in the country. The Islamic Studies for Secondary Schools, co-sponsored by the Bashir Sambo Centre for Islamic…
NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, Monday said that the congress is planning to embark on a one-day protest against the high level of corruption that had been going on in the country. Speaking at the opening of the 2015 NLC Rain School in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital with the theme “The Labour Movement and the Politics of Change in Nigeria”, Wabba said that the protest will be an expression of anger and total condemnation of corruption in Nigeria. According to him, the Congress National Executive Council will hold in a few days’ time in Abuja where the congress leadership…
Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has assured the people of North-East that the entire country is solidly behind them in this time of trial. Saraki said this when he led a delegation of the Senate on a one day on-the-spot assessment of the security situation in Borno State. He also made a cash donation of N10 million for the upkeep of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). “We have come to feel your pains, to hear what you have been going through firsthand. To seek to understand the severe bloody struggle you have had to endure and go through emotionally,…
Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday departed Nigeria for Zambia on a one-day working visit to the country. During the trip, the Vice President will meet with the Zambian President, Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu and also hold a courtesy visit with the country’s Vice President, Inonge Wina. According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, the vice president will be participating on Tuesday in the commissioning of the 1.5 million tonnes Dangote Cement plant and 30 MW coal-fired power plant in Ndola, Zambia. He is expected back in Abuja later on Tuesday.…
Men of the Department of State Security Services (DSS), yesterday stormed Wadata Plaza, National Secretariat of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Men of DSS who wore black outfits arrived the Secretariat as early as 9am. Although there was no confirmation of their mission at the party headquarters, it is believed that they were there to forestall any break of law and order over the lingering crisis rocking the party. The crisis was due to a disagreement between the national leadership and staff over plans to reduce the staff strength, their salaries and allowances by 50 percent. The men of the…
Claudio Descalzi President Muhammadu Buhari today met Claudio Descalzi, the chief executive officer of Italian multinational oil and gas company, Eni. At the meeting, Descalzi updated President Buhari on the company’s activities in Nigeria for the development of both oil and gas resources. A statement by the company said the President was particularly pleased with the progress achieved in the offshore activities of the company and expressed his appreciation for the company’s continued engagement in the Country in the current challenging environment of low international oil prices. Eni has been present in Nigeria since 1962. In 2014 hydrocarbon production was…
The Director-General of the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, has been summoned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over allegations bordering on abuse of office. The NAFDAC boss is currently being questioned by a crack team of EFCC investigators for allegedly awarding huge contracts to companies in which he has interests. According to Vanguard, Orhii arrived the EFCC headquarters in Abuja around 10am on Monday. A top source at the anti-graft agency’s headquarters confirmed the development to the newspaper. The source said: “It is true that the NAFDAC head was summoned by…