Leaders and members of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, across the country have vowed to embark on a peaceful protest to President Goodluck Jonathan’s hometown of Otuoke in Bayelsa State, over the refusal of the president’s aides to release to them election largesse promised them before the March 28 poll, which was won by Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd). The National Organising Secretary of APGA, Dr. Gbenga Afeni, said this in a statement made available to journalists in Osogbo, the Osun State capital on Monday. Afeni said the party was promised some unspecified amount of money before agreeing to support…
Author: Wale Adebayo
The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has described the purported sack of its chairman, Mr. Tunji Shelle as “laughable, null and void”. Mr. Shelle was on Monday “removed” by 34 members of the State Working Committee after they found him guilty of unspecified allegations among them mismanagement of election campaign funds and manipulating the party’s primaries last year, which they said ultimately led to the defeat of the PDP at the polls. Reacting to the development, the state Publicity Secretary of PDP, Taofik Gani, called on party members to discountenance the said sack whilst also admonishing…
The Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke has received passenger coaches as the state nears completion of the Calabar monorail. Imoke said it was gratifying to see that the monorail project, which was planned for the state years ago, had been finally delivered and in a matter of weeks, it would link the Summit Hills and Tinapa, thus bringing the business and leisure resort closer to Calabar metropolis. “The monorail line is a project that has been in the books of Cross River State for many years. So it is very gratifying for us to see that the trains…
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, said it would soon arraign three officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, over N1.2 billion unspent funds. This was contained in a statement issued by a consultant with the ICPC, Folu Olamiti, in Abuja on Monday. The three officials will have their day in court on Tuesday when they will appear before Justice Husseini Baba of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja. According to the statement, the NSCDC officials to be arraigned include a former Assistant Commandant General, Mohammed Umar and Amobi Chidozie and Ojuolape…
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Tony Ijohor, has prayed the Benue State Chief Judge, Justice Iorhemen Hwande, to commit the state’s Attorney-General, Philip Ierkwagh, to prison for contempt of court. The Makurdi-based senior lawyer also urged the court to commit the Special Adviser to Governor on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Solomon Wombo, to prison for the same offence. Mr. Ijohor made the submission Monday, while moving a motion filed by a member of the state House of Assembly, Benjamin Adanyi, against the state governor, Gabriel Suswam and eight others. The lawmaker had challenged the passage of Benue State…
The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, was on Monday appointed the pro-chancellor of the University of Benin, Edo State. His letter of appointment was delivered at his Palace earlier today by the Minister of Education, Ibrahim Shekarau. Speaking after receiving the letter, Mr. Sanusi said good deeds always has its rewards. He explained, “I’m saying this because as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria then, I came to the rescue of the university by spending N500 million to construct a bridge yearned for by the university for over 30 years. “If at that time one told me…
President Idris Deby of Chad, who earlier this year was quoted as saying his country’s military was closing in on elusive Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau and urged him to surrender, has retracted the statement while also insisting he won’t divulge the location of the wanted terrorist even if he knew his location. “I cannot tell you today that I know where Shekau is hiding and even if I knew I won’t tell you”, Mr. Deby told journalists on Monday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The Chadian leader made this known while speaking with State House correspondents after a meeting…
Controversial former BBA housemate, Huddah Monroe has shared a new photo on Instagram; and no she isn’t unclad as usual. To celebrated mothers day, Huddah shared an epic throwback photo of herself and her mum, and she captioned it: – “This Ghetto was the place damn And My moms arms have always been the warmest. I don’t give a f**k about a lot of things and people . But when my mom Talks I listen Cuz she is my god on earth , my best friend ,my second skin ,she knows what pain is , she is the one that…
Governor of Yobe State, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, at the weekend reiterated the support of the people of the state for Senator Ahmed Lawan (APC, Yobe North) in his bid to become the Senate President in the 8th National Assembly. Gaidam, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Press Affairs and Information, Mallam Abdullahi Bego, dismissed as untrue, a report that he was against Lawan’s bid to become Senate President. According to Gaidam, the government and people of Yobe State were totally in support of Lawan to emerge as the next chairman of the National Assembly. The statement read in…
In a bid to rid the public service of ghost workers, the Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has ordered the verification of the over 48, 977 workers in the state’s payroll. The governor’s directive was contained in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka. According to Mr. Fayose, the verification is meant to block the over N500 million being lost monthly by the government through the e-payment system contracted by the immediate past administration, to a private firm. He, however, directed that the April salary be paid as workers are verified,…
A group, Adamawa Progressive Movement, has called for a probe into the N22 billion expenditure incurred by Ahmadu Fintiri’s 86 day-old administration. Mr. Fintiri, speaker of Adamawa House of Assembly, assumed the office of acting governor, following the impeachment of Murtala Nyako in July 2014. Mr. Fintiri was later removed by a Federal High Court which ruled that the state’s deputy governor, Bala Ngilari, was not properly impeached. The convener of the group, Sunday Wugira, made the call at a press conference in Yola. Mr. Wugira said the probe was necessary as some of the projects allegedly executed by the…
The Speaker of Ogun State House of Assembly, Suraj Adekunbi, has denied a report that he ignored the cries for help by some accident victims when his convoy drove by the scene. Three people were killed on Saturday at Onipepeye Village along Siun-Owode road, Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area, in the accident that involved two commercial vehicles. According to a PREMIUM TIMES reporter, who met the accident victims in company with other sympathizers, Mr. Adekunbi’s convoy passed by while rescue efforts were on by residents of the area, without offering any help. The reporter said witnesses lamented that rather than stop…
Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, has denied rumours making the rounds that he was plotting to stay on as head of the organisation beyond May 29. Kuku, who is the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta, made the clarification following strident calls by some influential individuals and groups from the region on the incoming administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to scrap the programme. Kuku, in a statement made available by the Head of Media and Communication in the PAO, Dan Alabrah, made it clear that he was returning to his village in Ondo rather…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the incoming administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) will not persecute anyone, contrary to statements credited to President Goodluck Jonathan. Mr. Jonathan, whose administration has been bogged down by weighty allegations of corruption scandals, had while speaking at a thanksgiving service organized in his honour at the Anglican Church, Life Camp, Abuja on Sunday, advised those that served under him to be prepared for persecution by the incoming administration. “…So for ministers and aides who served with me, I sympathize with them, they will be persecuted. And they must be ready for that…
The Chairman of Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara, Alhaji Luqman Owolewa, has joined other Nigerians to give support to Sen. Bukola Saraki’s senate president bid. Owolewa, in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Omu-Aran on Sunday, said that Saraki’s aspiration deserves the full support of Nigerians. According to him, Saraki possesses wealth of political experience to occupy the exotic seat of the senate presidency. “His ability to secure victory for his party in Kwara State in the last general elections is a good pointer to his capability to steer the ship of the…
The All Progressives Congress, Rivers State chapter, has labeled the state deputy governor, Tele Ikuru, the “modern Judas”, who is willing to sell his master for material gain. The Rivers APC chairman, Dr. Davies Ikanya, who made this known in a statement on Sunday, decried the unprovoked attack on Governor Chibuike Amaechi, who he said “picked him (Ikuru) from the gutter and made him whom he has become politically”. Mr. Ikuru, who is the Chairman of the Transition Committee, set up by Rivers State governor-elect, Nyesome Wike, addressed a press conference in Port Harcourt last week during which he took…
The President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday in Abuja said he would shift attention from oil to agricultural and mining sectors to create jobs. Mr. Buhari said this while receiving Northern Elders led by a former diplomat, Maitama Sule. He said he would address the problem of unemployment as it was one of the biggest challenges facing the nation. “The biggest message is to try and persuade the people that it is not possible to change the state of affairs now. “It took 16 years and those 16 years, most of you know it better than myself, Nigeria earned revenue more…
Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State has again warned that the delay by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to zone positions in the National Assembly leadership may work to the advantage of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The two-term governor, who won the senatorial election to represent Kano Central in the March 28 polls, said he suspected that some APC lawmakers were already working for the PDP. “If the APC and indeed the president-elect allow PDP to snatch victory at the National Assembly, then it will be an unusual scenario which they should pay for”, he said…
Elder Statesman and former Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Maitama Sule, has charged President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to see himself as president of the whole of Nigeria and not that of the North only. Sule, who spoke yesterday, when he led a delegation of northern elders, including Professor Ango Abudalhi, to pay a congratulatory visit to Buhari in Abuja, referred to Buhari’s election as an act of God, He therefore urged him to use the opportunity to correct the social ills of the past. “You are the president of Nigeria, you are not the president of Northern Nigeria by…
Although she recently disclosed that the federal government borrowed money to pay workers salaries, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said yesterday that the Jonathan administration was leaving some solid economic legacies for the incoming Buhari government. The minister insisted that “the allegations that the economy is in ruins are absolutely untrue”. She therefore warned those she claimed were running the economy down for political gains, saying there could be unintended consequences of loss of investor confidence in the Nigerian economy. “We cannot take away the fact that the Jonathan administration, in spite…