The Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye, on Sunday alleged that a former Lagos governor and national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had decided to offer support for Senator Smart Adeyemi. Adeyemi was the senator representing the senatorial district on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, before he was defeated by Melaye in the March 28 polls. The former senator had approached the Election Petition Tribunal in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital to upturn the election of Melaye as senator. The Tribunal, while dismissing Smart’s petition, said his lawyers filed their defence…
Author: Wale Adebayo
CLERK TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, SALISU MAIKASUWA (R) SWEARINNG-IN THE DEPUTY SENATE PRESIDENT, IKE EKWEREMADU AT THE INAUGURATION OF THE 8TH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN ABUJA ON TUESDAY (9/6/15).WITH THEM IS SENATE PRESIDENT BUKOLA SARAKI. (NAN) The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress, APC, is far from over as a member of the Unity Forum of the Senate and member representing Kaduna North Senatorial District, Suleiman Hunkuyi, has vowed that they would not allow the alleged impunity perpetrated by Senate President Bukola Saraki and his supporters on the June 9 when the 8th National Assembly was inaugurated to stand. Hunkuyi, who…
The Kano State Pension Trust Fund has exonerated the immediate past governor of Kano State now Senator, Engr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of the allegation that he mismanaged pensioners’ money amounting to N2 billion. Debunking the allegation, the board said Kwankwaso had never put the state pensioners’ money to any bank as fixed deposit because he had no right to invest the pensioners’ money. The permanent member of the board, Alhaji Alassan Abubakar Kabiya, said all the accusations leveled against the ex-governor on pension funds was far from the truth. “We heard that pensioners petitioned EFCC about alleged mismanagement of N2billion…
CHAIRMAN, RIVERS CHAPTER OF THE NIGERIAN UNION OF PENSIONERS, MR EDWARD-FESTUS ABIBO(M), ADDRESSING FELLOW PENSIONERS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS DURING A PEACEFUL PROTEST OVER NONPAYMENT OF THEIR PENSION ARREARS IN PORT HARCOURT Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has been commended for approving the payment of three months pension arrears to pensioners in the state. Wike had on Saturday ordered the Accountant General of the state to commence the payment of the pension arrears owed retirees in the state by the Rotimi Amaechi administration. The Nigerian Union of Pensioners, NUP, Rivers chapter, while commending the governor, thanked him for showing love…
Plans by the Federal Government to establish a nuclear power plant at Itu Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State has been rejected by the Akwa Ibom Leaders’ Caucus. Briefing newsmen in Uyo, the state capital at the weekend, Senator Anietie Okon, who spoke on behalf of the caucus, described the proposal as a “monumental disaster-in-waiting” for the people of the state. Okon explained that the plan to build the power plant did not conform to international standards guiding the implementation of civil nuclear programs across the globe. He warned that the plant will put several communities in the state…
The parents of the abducted female students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno, on Sunday alerted the public on the activities of some fraudsters using their names to defraud Nigerians and corporate bodies. More than 200 students of the school were abducted by the Boko Haram on April 14, 2014, while writing their final examination. Majority of the girls are yet to be found. Yakubu Maina, the chairman of the association of parents of the abducted girls, raised the alert at a news conference in Maiduguri. “We wish to alert Nigerians and corporate organisations on the existence of some individuals…
An analyst with the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, on Sunday in Abuja advised Nigeria to prepare for the post-insurgency rebuilding of the North East, destroyed by the Boko Haram insurgents. Matthew Alao, a UN Conflict Prevention and Peace Building Analyst, told the News Agency of Nigeria that Nigeria was in the last phase of insurgency in the North East. “We are getting into the last phase of insurgency in the North East. “There is need for everybody to put hands on deck to ensure that the post-conflict reconstruction, reconciliation and rehabilitation, are done inclusively”, he said. Mr. Alao said…
Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State has said that his pronouncements on the “empty treasury” he inherited, were for the purpose of placing on record the situation he met on assuming office. He told heads of media establishments in Bauchi on Saturday night that he never intended ridiculing anybody, but must protect the interest of the people, as he had sworn to do so. He reiterated that what he met was terrible, adding that apart from the empty treasury, even some facilities that were needed to conduct the affairs of government, were “carted away”. “I had to delay my written…
The All Progressives Congress, APC, has washed its hands of the reported invitation of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu by the Nigeria Police, over which the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has released an “outlandish” statement containing all sorts of imaginary claims. In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the governing party said it neither wrote a petition to the police nor is it aware that any petition was written against the Deputy Senate President. “However, if, as the PDP claims, the petition concerns alleged altering of the Senate’s Standing Rules on…
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has enjoined Nigerians to support the government of President Muhammadu Buhari in the fight against Boko Haram. Jonathan, who made the call via a Facebook post on Sunday, said the current administration is doing its best to put an end to the acts of terror. The ex-president said the death of the victims at the hands of the terrorists is a sad reminder that the war against Boko Haram is a task for all Nigerians. “The death of any Nigerian at the hands of terrorists is a sad reminder that the war on terror is a task…
The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has put the casualty of Sunday night’s bomb attacks in Jos, Plateau State at 44. The Director in charge of the North-Central zone of the agency, Mohammed Abdulsalam, in a telephone interview with journalists on Monday, also said 48 others were seriously injured and are currently receiving treatment in various hospitals in Jos. But the Plateau state government insisted that only 18 people died in the incidents, with 18 others injured. The Director of Press and Public Affairs to the Governor, Emmanuel Nanle, in a statement, quoted the state government as condemning the attack,…
Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai yesterday denied claims by immediate past government led by Alhaji Ralman Yero that it left behind, N8 billion for the new government. Former Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Ambassador Nuhu Bajoga, who served under Yero, had last week claimed at a function, that Yero had left N8 billion in the coffers of the state government. Addressing a press conference in Kaduna yesterday, Governor El- Rufai’s spokesman, Samuel Aruwan debunked Bajoga’s claims. “The Kaduna State Government had N228,333,371.67 in its central account on May 29, 2015. This represents the working capital that could be spent,”…
Governors from the Southeast have condemned the relocation of Boko Haram suspects to prison facilities in the zone, particularly the Aguata Prison in Ekwuluobia, Anambra state by the Federal Government. The Governors, who met under the aegis of Southeast Governors Forum on Sunday in Owerri, the Imo State capital, noted that the relocation of the suspected terrorists is already creating palpable fear and security tension in the zone, especially around the state where the prisons are located. Briefing journalists shortly after the closed door meeting that lasted for about two and a half hours, the host Governor, Rochas Okorocha, said…
A member of All Progressives Congress (APC) Board of Trustees, BoT, Alhaji Gambo Magaji, yesterday, hinted on what the party is doing to restore peace and move the country forward. Magaji explained that despite the seeming breach of the party’s position regarding the National Assembly election, it had decided to accept the leaders that emerged from the controversial election for peace to reign, with the hope that Senate President, Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, would reciprocate the gesture and abide by the position of the party that brought them to power. “It is our belief that since…
The United States has vowed to support Nigeria after a series of deadly terror attacks blamed on Boko Haram. More than 200 lives have been lost to attacks by the terrorists in the last one week, the latest being a twin bombing in Jos, just hours after a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a church in the restive northeastern city of Potiskum, killing five worshippers. “The United States strongly condemns the recent attacks in northeastern Nigeria inflicted by Boko Haram,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. “We will continue to support Nigeria’s efforts to bring those…
President Muhammadu Buhari is facing criticisms over his 11 appointments since he assumed power on May 29, 10 of which have come from the north. Many accused the president of pushing a northern agenda. However, Buhari has refuted the claims. Speaking to Vanguard in Abuja, yesterday, the Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity Mr. Femi Adesina, the only Southerner in the appointments, refuted the claims that Buhari was acting a northern script. “The president received a national mandate and was going to pursue it as such. The president does not have a northern agenda. He has a…
Two separate explosions targeting a Mosque and a restaurant occurred Sunday evening in Jos, Plateau, killing an unknown number of people, Police says. One eye witness told Vanguard that “the first explosion went off at about 9:14pm at a Bauchi road shopping complex a few meters to the Bauchi park and University of Jos and the second explosion was heard about four minutes later.” The witness said a Hilux van belonging to Sheikh Jingir and other private vehicles were conveying the dead and injured to hospitals in the city after the explosion occurred at a popular food seller’s shop. The…
Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima has urged fleeing residents of attacked Zabarmari and Hadamari villages to return, as troops will provide protection against any Boko Haram attacks or bombings on the affected farming and herding communities in the state. The governor, while addressing surviving residents of Zabarmari, urged the fleeing villagers trooping to Maiduguri to return to their respective houses. “Since the military have repelled the insurgents from destroying this village, the people should not run and flee to Maiduguri for safety, but return to your homes which were burnt apart from the torched shops and local market,” Shettima said.…
As many may not know, the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act allows companies extracting oil from 1000 metres offshore deep not to pay royalty to government. Lagos lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, says this has to stop. Falana has, therefore, called on the National Assembly to repeal the law, which was enacted by the military in 1999 under the leadership of General Abdusalam Abubakar. When the law passed, it was aimed at giving certain fiscal incentives to the oil and gas companies operating in the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin under production sharing contracts between the Nigerian National Petroleum…
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Kenneth Minimah says he would restore military checkpoints, which President Muhammadu Buhari ordered dismantled a few weeks ago. He also promised to set up more General Court-Martial to try erring soldiers and check indiscipline among troops engaged in the ongoing counter-terrorism operations against the Boko Haram in the North-East. Minimah disclosed this on Sunday in Abuja at an inter-denominational church service to mark the Nigerian Army Day celebration 2015 (NADECL). “The army is taking all proactive measures to restore sanity and battle confidence to troops,” he said, adding that court-martial was set up to…