Igbo youths have warned some South East leaders not negotiate with the Federal Government on their behalf over the mass protests for the actualisation of the Biafra Republic. This came, Saturday, against the backdrop of reports that some Igbo leaders promised to crush the agitators for the Biafra Republic at a recent meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari. “The wide gulf between the Igbo masses and the political class is about to be widened dangerously,” a statement signed by the Founder of Igbo Youth Movement (IYM) and Leader of the South East Democratic Coalition, Evangelist Elliot Uko, said. “The mindless strategy…
Author: Wale Adebayo
Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters (DHQ) yesterday announced a restructuring of the Operation Lafiya Dole in the North East, which it said was aimed at re-positioning it for more efficiency, effectiveness and combat readiness in the discharge of its assigned tasks of crushing the remnant of Boko Haram Terrorists. Subsequently, a new Theatre Commander has been appointed, the Director of Defence Information, Rabe Abubakar, has said. The new theatre commander is Maj.-Gen. Hassan Umoru. Until his appointment, Umoru was the General Officer Commanding, 3 Division Nigerian Army, Jos, Plateau State. Umoru is succeeding Yusha’u Mahmood Abubakar, a Major General, who was appointed four…
Shiite spokesman, Ebrahim Musa, has accused the Nigerian Army of burying the bodies of hundreds of victims of an alleged military massacre of Shiite Muslims to hide the death toll. The spokesman said soldiers took the bodies from the mortuary of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital and buried them in mass graves on Wednesday. “The Nigerian army has desecrated our dead,” Musa said. “We hereby demand the location of the mass burial, and the interrogation of those who ordered the operation.” Commenting on the alleged killings, Senator Shehu Sani, who hails from Kano State and a human rights activist, said: “The Zaria killings…
Punch Nigeria Limited, publishers of the PUNCH titles, has suspended its NPAN membership. This move is not unconnected with the controversial payment of N120 million to the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) through the Publisher of ThisDay Newspaper, Nduka Obaigbena, The company communicated the decision to the NPAN in a letter dated Thursday, December 17 and signed by its chairman, Wale Aboderin. Recall that investigations into how $2.1billion allegedly meant for arms procurement was spent had revealed that Mr. Obaigbena collected N120 million from the embattled former NSA, Sambo Dasuki, on behalf of 12 newspapers, whose circulation were disrupted…
The elected of Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said the nullification of elections of the party’s governors was aimed at taking control of “oil-producing states by all means necessary” by the governing All Progressives Congress (APC). Reacting to the nullification of the election of Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel, by the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday, the governors said the judgments were part of the grand plan of the APC to take over the state. The ruling came about 72 hours after the Court of Appeal, also sitting in Abuja, nullified the election of…
Nigeria Police Command in Sokoto State has banned indefinitely all forms of processions by all religious groups across the 23 local government areas of the state. This is contained in a statement by the spokesman of the state police command, El-Mustapha Sani, and issued to newmen in Sokoto yesterday. “The action is to maintain law and order in the state and the country, in view of the recent obnoxious happenings in some parts of Nigeria. “This is also in order not to allow hoodlums to hijack such processions by any religious groups. “Subsequently, all members of the general public are…
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), yesterday impounded a truck loaded with Indian hemp worth over N15 million in Akwanga, Nasarawa State. The NDLEA Area Commander in charge of Akwanga and Kokona Local Government Areas, Mr Saidu Salihu, disclosed this to newsmen in Akwanga. According to the NDLEA area commander, the truck was impounded after knocking down and killing three street hawkers at Alushi Village, near Akwanga. He, however, said the occupants of the vehicle fled the scene after the accident. “The villagers later got there and discovered that the truck was loaded with hard drugs and contacted the agency.…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to nail anyone found guilty in the ongoing anti-corruption campaign. The Board of Trustees (BoT) Secretary, Senator Walid Jibrin, who made this known while speaking with reporters at the party’s secretariat in Abuja on Friday, said the party would support any leader who is ready to rid the nation of corruption. Senator Jibrin’s comment came on the heels of ongoing corruption and money laundering trial of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki and other PDP chieftains. According to the BoT scribe, the PDP would support every…
Following a directive by the Federal Government for universities to retrench workers of University Staff Schools, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has threatened to declare an indefinite strike. Mr Samson Ugwoke who is the National President of the association, made the plan known at a news conference in Abuja on Friday. He said that failure by the government to honour the agreement between it and SSANU on the schools would compel the association to declare an indefinite strike “SSANU wishes to notify the Federal Government of our intention to resume our national industrial action on rejection of…
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has revealed that the pump price of petrol may sell for less than the current official price of N87/litre before the end of the first quarter of 2016. The announcement is coming on the heels of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) resuming production of petroleum products beginning from Saturday, December 19. According to the NNPC, the current pricing template for petrol, which was prepared by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, contains glaring inefficiencies that deserve to be looked into. The Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy of the NNPC, Mr.…
All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has identified political corruption as one of the biggest threats to democracy and sustainable development in Nigeria. The APC chieftain made the observation at the end-of-year dinner of the Council of Retired Federal Permanent Secretaries (CORFEPS) in Abuja. He added that the civil service can play an important role in curbing political corruption the same way it enabled it. Oyegun, who spoke on “the role of Nigeria Civil Service in this era of change”, stressed that the Civil Service remains the fulcrum for national development in this era of change. According…
A former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has said the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) is in for what he called “real trouble”. Fani-Kayode, who was the spokesperson of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organization in the March 28 presidential election, was reacting to the appointment of one Deji Adeyanju as the Director of Social Media for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The controversial former Minister and staunch critic of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, expressed his view on the appointment of Mr. Adeyanju and what it portends for the APC-led federal government via his Twitter handle @realFFK: Congratulations to…
The British authorities has hightened surveillance around ailing Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, following the revelation that she is on the verge of leaving the country for the Commonwealth of Dominica, where she has reportedly acquired citizenship. Alison-Madueke, who has been in London since May 29, 2015 for treatment of chest cancer, is currently under investigation in the United Kingdom for alleged corruption while serving as head of Nigeria’s lucrative Petroleum Ministry. According to the report, the discovery that the embattled former Minister had secretly acquired the citizenship of the tiny Caribbean country of only 72,000 people, jolted…
The National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has joined calls in several quarters for the removal of fuel subsidy. Speaking on Friday in Kaduna, Tinube urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately remove the subsidy regime, saying it has overstayed its usefulness. According to him, for the country to move forward, the subsidy regime need to go since the ordinary Nigerians are no longer benefiting from it. In a keynote address, entitled, “Towards the Economic Liberation of Nigeria, Bala Usman’s Enduring Relevance” which he delivered at the memorial Conference organized…
Nigerian Naira (₦) today recovered what it lost on Thursday, strengthening against the United States Dollar ($) after weeks of free fall at the parallel market. The currency gained N10 to exchange at N270 to the dollar after it slumped to N280 on Thursday as the central bank reduce the amount of dollar in circulation. At the official interbank window, it gained N0.03 to close at N196.97 to the dollar. Traders at the market said that Giving possible reasons for the recovery, traders said currency speculators were afraid that the naira could sell below their expectations and this forced them to release…
The Popular Catholic Priest, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, has called on Nigerians to be patient and keep faith with the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government, assuring that the as the nation will attain greatness in no distant future. Rev. Mbaka made the call in Abuja today while speaking with State House correspondents after he visited President Muhammadu Buhari to pray for him and the nation. “What is happening now is seasonal; it is just a harmattan period, in no distant time this season will equally pass away. Nigeria will inhale better air,” Mbaka said. “We are passing through a season of decay into…
A Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has nullified the election of Akwa Ibom governor, Udom Emmanuel of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The declaration of Emmanuel as winner of the April 11 governorship election in Akwa Ibom was challenged by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Umana O. Umana. At the governorship election tribunal, Governor Emmanuel of the PDP, had secured partial victory, with the election cancelled only in 18 out of the state’s 31 local government areas, where it ordered a rerun. However, while Governor Emmanuel challenged the ruling, insisting he won in all 31 LGAs, the APC candidate, Mr. Umana, also…
Federal Government today postponed an emergency Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting summoned to discuss issues related to the 2016 Appropriation Bill. The emergency FEC meeting was called ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari’s presenting of the bill before a joint National Assembly session on Tuesday. Disclosing the reason for the sudden postponement of the emergency meeting, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said it was to give members of the cabinet enough time to reconcile figures. “The meeting was not cancelled. It was postponed till Monday afternoon. The reason is that you know there was a meeting of the National Economic Council…
All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, says Nigeria’s economy has hit a wall because the country did not plan for times like this. “For decades, Nigeria danced in close confines with economic disaster. In the past, higher oil prices allowed us to dodge the worst. We have survived but not thrived. Improvised but not planned. Spent but not invested. Laughed, drank and feasted but did not build, construct or maintain. Now, Nigeria has collided into a wall, merciless and immovable. The present downturn in oil prices may be more than…
The governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, on Thursday, December 17, dismissed as false, claims by some politicians in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that he had withdrawn from the inconclusive governorship election in the state. Sylva described the claim as an act of desperation by the PDP in their fear of imminent defeat. The APC governorship candidate said members of the PDP who were spreading fabrications about his withdrawal from the suspended governorship election, were engaging in a futile attempt to save their principal, Governor Seriake Dickson, from sure and imminent defeat. Sylva,…