Hajia Mujahidat Daba Dokubo-Asari, wife of ex-Niger Delta militant, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, has declared that no one can arrest her husband. According to her, the ex-Niger Delta warlord never held any political office and will never be held accountable for anything under the outgoing administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. Mrs. Dokubo was reacting to speculations that some Nigerians, especially those who served under the present administration, which winds down on May 29, maybe arrested and jailed over allegations of corruption once Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) takes over. Voicing her anger via a post on Facebook Tuesday, she said: “Buhari must start…
Author: Wale Adebayo
Speaker of the Kebbi State House of Assembly, Hassan Shalla, has been impeached for alleged breach of trust and embezzlement of allowances of his colleagues. The member representing Birnin-Kebbi north state constituency, Abubakar Sabo, chaired the sitting following the absence of the speaker and his deputy. Twelve of the 24 members of the house were in attendance at the sitting, and supported the impeachment of Mr. Shalla. The impeachment of the speaker, however, is shrouded in controversy as it is not clear whether the Assembly could legally convene such a sitting in his absence as well as his deputy and…
Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State on Monday sacked all but few of his political aides. Only those on essential services were retained. The sacking, which was contained in a statement by the Permanent Secretary, Political Affairs, Government House, Hashimu Yakubu, on behalf of the Secretary to the State Government, stated that the sacking of all Special Advisers, Senior Special Assistants and Personal Assistants was with immediate effect. Although, the number of aides sacked was not disclosed in the statement, Gov. Yuguda is notorious for allegedly having over 2, 000. The statement read, “The Executive Governor of Bauchi State, Mallam…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has clarified that all accredited media organizations in the country, including the African Independent Television (AIT), which was highly critical of its candidate in the run-up to the presidential elections are free to cover the activities of the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.). The clarification came on the heels of reports that Mr. Buhari had barred the AIT, owned by PDP chieftain, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, from covering his activities pending when he resolves some issues relating to standard and ethics with the private TV station. The APC Presidential Campaign spokesperson, Garba Shehu, had while confirming…
NIGER STATE GOV-ELECT, ABUBAKAR SANI BELLO The Senator representing Niger East Senatorial District on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, Barr. David Umaru, queried the composition of the transition committee raised by the incoming APC administration in Niger State to be led by Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello. In a statement issued Monday, the senator said “The composition of the transition committee in Niger State ought to have been given a more serious consideration. One would ordinarily think our state would have emulated the principle behind the well-thought out and the readily available template of our party leader and president-elect,…
Billionaire businessman and one of the major financiers of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Arthur Eze, on Monday visited the President elect, Muhammadu Buhari, at his residence in Abuja, saying he was backing Mr. Buhari because God has given him “power”. Mr. Eze, who has substantial interests in oil and gas, is a known pillar of support of the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan administration. He has also been linked to several lucrative contracts awarded by the outgoing Jonathan administration including of recent, defense and military supplies. Speaking shortly after meeting the president-elect, Mr. Eze said he was glad that…
The pan-northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum, on Monday hailed the re-election of Rochas Okorocha as the governor of Imo State. Okorocha defeated Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, of the Peoples Democratic Party, in the election concluded last Saturday. In a statement by Secretary-General of the ACF, Col. John Ubah (retd.), in Kaduna on Monday, the Forum also hailed the people of Imo State for standing by a performer and a bridge builder. The Forum said, “Arewa Consultative Forum heartily congratulates His Excellency, Chief Rochas Okorocha, CON, on his well-deserved victory at the polls to retain…
The Defence Headquarters on Monday denied reports that Boko Haram terrorists are now in control of Mafa in Borno State. The Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade said Monday “The truth is that an attempt by a group of fleeing terrorists who strayed towards the town and engaged in their typical suicide attack was duly repelled by troops”. Similarly, he said “the claim by some media organisations that terrorists chased out troops and took over Marte cannot be verified as troops were busy elsewhere during the said attack”. Olukolade said further, “all efforts to track the terrorists who were reported to…
The trial of a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, on charges of money laundering to the tune of N19.2bn, is to resume on Tuesday before a Federal High Court in Abuja. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, accused Sylva of using three companies as front to commit the offences between 2009 and 2012 when he was governor of the state. The former governor has however, consistently denied any wrongdoing. The companies are Marlin Maritime Limited, Eat Catering Services Limited, and Haloween- Blue Construction and Logistics Limited. Others charged with Sylva are Francis Okoburo, Gbenga S. Balogun, Samuel…
A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has called on the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd,), to commence reforms in the aviation sector by converting the Presidential Air Fleet to passenger planes. The PAF is made up of aircraft, about 10 in number, dedicated to the air transportation needs of the President and his entourage as well as high ranking government officials. In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria said redeploying all the aircraft in the PAF to passenger planes in the form of a new national carrier…
Peter Obi President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has sacked the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Dr. Femi Thomas. He has been replaced by Olufemi A. Akingbade as Acting Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the NHIS. Akingbade, who hails from Ekiti State and holds a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science as well as a Masters in Business Administration was the General Manager, ICT in the NHIS until his new appointment. President Jonathan has also approved the confirmation of Mr. Mounir Haliru Gwarzo as Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Gwarzo who has been acting…
Singer, Emma Nyra flaunts her body and curves in a one piece swimsuit
The National Secretary of Labour Party, Kayode Ajulo, has said the All Progressives Congress’ decision to close the door against interested defectors from the Peoples Democratic Party into its fold has no place in law. Ajulo said this in an interactive session with journalists in Abuja on Monday. The national leadership of APC had recently closed its doors against defectors urging them to remain in their party and build a virile opposition instead of jumping ship at the change of their party’s fortunes. In reaction, the LP national secretary insisted that the pronouncement by the APC was clearly in violation…
Nigeria’s President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, has said that Boko Haram will be denied a recruitment base the moment local communities realize that its claim to being a religious group is nothing but a fraud. “The fraud called Boko Haram can be defeated by denying it a recruitment base”, Mr. Buhari told visiting leaders of Nasarawa State who came to congratulate him on his emergence as President-elect. “No religion allows for the killing of children in school dormitory, in markets and places of worship. They have nothing to do with religion. They are terrorists and we are going to deal with them…
The claim by a former national vice-chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, that the national leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, apologized to him, has been described as the meditations of a man in search of political relevance. This is according to Tinubu’s media aide, Mr. Sunday Dare. Speaking with VANGUARD on Monday, Dare said “Bode George takes himself too seriously. He is in search of political relevance, which has since deserted him”. George, had in an interview published by a national weekly yesterday, claimed that Tinubu had, last year at the burial of…
President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the release of the report of forensic audit of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) accounts which was hitherto kept from public glare for reasons best known to the presidency. A statement by the Special Adviser to President Jonathan on media and publicity, Reuben Abati expressed Jonathan’s deep concern “by the continuing suggestions that his administration still has anything to hide about the unproven allegation that about $20 Billion is unaccounted for by the NNPC during his tenure. “To lay the matter to rest, President Jonathan in line with Section 7(2) of the NNPC Act,…
President Goodluck Jonathan says he is not afraid of being probed after he leaves office on May 29. In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President noted that investigations will not be out of place since Jonathan’s administration also reviewed the actions of previous governments on assumption of office. “As Alhaji Mohammed threatened in his statement, the incoming administration will be perfectly within its rights to review all actions of the present government as it may deem fit. “We see nothing wrong with that. After all, the present administration reviewed the…
Ogun State government is set to make transportation in the state better by improving the rail transportation system in the state. The government, Monday, signed a $3.2 billion light rail project contract with Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) for the intracity and intercity rail network in the state. While signing the contract at his office in Abeokuta, Governor Ibikunle Amosun said the project would cover cities such as Abeokuta, Sagamu, Ijebu Ode, Idi-iroko among others. He noted that when completed, the project will take pressures off the roads as well as open up the cities for further development. According…
President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari today barred the African Independent Television (AIT) from covering his functions. This came as the security men attached to him barred the station’s correspondent, simply identified as Bebei, from covering happening at Buhari’s residence. Vanguard gathered that the directive was discreetly given to the correspondent by an official at the Defence House where the crew had gone to cover the visit of Cuban ambassador to Buhari. Although there was no official order that could be referred to as barring the reporter, the action might have been due to the sour relationship between the All Progressives Congress (APC),…
An American newspaper, The Daily Beast, has published an expose detailing Tinubu’s ties to a notorious heroin trafficking ring. See the full report below Nigeria’s election last month was celebrated as an unlikely victory for democracy in an African country with a tenuous record of free and fair representation. But the man most responsible for midwifing General Muhammed Buhari’s ballot triumph over current President Goodluck Jonathan has a spotty CV. Former Lagos provincial governor Bola Tinubu, affectionately nicknamed the Jagaban, is today seen as a shrewd if not “deeply Machiavellian” Svengali in Nigeria’s politics as well as the architect of…