Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a Shi’a Muslim procession near Kano which killed 22 people. In a statement written in Arabic on social media, the group said its bomber “detonated his explosives which led to the death” of the victims on Friday. “And by the permission of Allah these attacks of ours against Shi’a polytheists will continue until we cleanse the earth of their filth,” it warned. One of the organizers of the march, Ali Kakaki told AFP: “For now, we have 22 deaths following the death of one more person yesterday. Thirty-eight people have…
Author: Wale Adebayo
In the recent letter written by Dele Momodu (the owner of Ovation Magazine) to President Muhammadu Buhari, he laments the situation of things from wastage to lack of economic plan and inability to curb Boko Haram insurgency as promised. Read Dele Momodu’s memo below: Your Excellency, it’s been months since I wrote my desperate memo to you. I wish to thank you once more for reacting promptly and swiftly at that time and for giving me the honour and privilege of meeting you in your office. I remember presenting you a special compilation of my articles, especially the many admonitions to your…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cannot resurrect from its death and rejection by Nigerians in nearly most parts of the country, particularly Kaduna State. This was the assertion of the state’s Commissioner for Local Government, Muhammed Bashir Saidu, who noted that corruption and misrule killed the PDP in Nigeria. Saidu, who is the immediate past Kaduna State Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said the present government will soon commence arraignment of treasury looters who stole state funds. “PDP can say anything but what the masses know is that PDP is dead and buried. The party has gone forever…
A group of eminent Nigerians under the aegis of the Patriots, has said that the Federal Government cannot address the current wave of protests by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) by using force on the protesters. The group urged President Muhammadu Buhari to see the national question as the country’s foremost problem, noting that it is more challenging than corruption. “The Federal Government should try to deal with the protests in a more matured way and not by arresting everybody and putting them in prison. That will accentuate the whole situation,” Chairman of the Patriots, Prof Ben Nwabueze (SAN)…
The Federal Government has promised to offset outstanding premiums owed the insurance industry as soon as the economic situation of the country improves. Cumulative premium on group life insurance owed the insurance industry by the Federal Government is said to be in excess of N10 billion. Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun made the disclosure at the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) 2015 staff retreat in Abuja. According to her, the government is cautious of its debt to the sector and will endeavour to clear it as soon the nation recovers from the economic downturn. “Government meeting its responsibility of paying…
In his style since he became Nigeria’s leader, President Muhammadu Buhari made another revelation while in Iran; he said looter have begun to return stolen funds. However, there is no figure on such funds just yet. According to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who spoke with journalists at yesterday’s Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja, the process is still ongoing. Adeosun said when collated, the funds would be returned to where they were stolen from as appropriate. “There is no figure on the funds being returned yet. The process is on-going. When it is completed and…
The Department of State Services (DSS) has alerted Abuja residents over plots by Boko Haram to attack churches, mosques and markets, using female suicide bombers, mostly young girls. A memo by the Director of Security Services, Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Ibrahim, urged religious bodies to put their members on the alert. The memo addressed to the National Presidents of Jama’atu Nasril Islam and the Christian Association of Nigeria asked residents to report suspicious elements around places of worship to the authorities using these telephone numbers: 09063872207, 09053872208 and 09053872209. “Intelligence reaching this office revealed that insurgents are planning to attack…
The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU), yesterday, said that mass unemployment looms in the country following epileptic power supply that is hampering the operations of industries. According to the National President of SSANU, Comrade Samson Ugwoke, who raised the alarm at the SSANU 2015 National Delegate Conference holding at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Enugu State, many industries have started laying off workers. This, he notes, has adverse effects on the the country. “The nation’s economy would be better when we have the right people at the right places. We looked at the Treasury Single Account (TSA)…
Forty one ships carrying petroleum products, food items and other goods are expected to berth at the Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports in Lagos from today, Friday, till December 18. The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) stated this in its daily publication – ‘Shipping Position’, – a copy of which was made available to newsmen on Friday in Lagos. NPA stated that the expected ships contained general cargoes, containers, steel products, buck wheat, rice, bulk sugar, bulk urea, crude palm olein, bulk gypsum, kerosene, diesel, and petrol. The document noted that 10 other ships had arrived the ports, waiting to berth with…
The Nigerian Navy in the Delta state has nabbed a self propelled barge loaded with an estimated 4000 metric tonnes, equivalent of 400 truck load of suspected crude oil in what the Central Naval Command, CNC. Flag Officer Commanding, FOC, CNC, Rear Admiral Apochi Suleiman who briefed the press Friday at the Nigeria Navy Ship, NNS Delta in Warri said the boat, MT Camille, was caught on November 15 along with an 11-man crew in Forcados waters where Shell operates an oil terminal. “The crew captain is making serious confessional statement, but this is such a big break that we can’t…
The Governor of Lagos State , Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, Friday, handed over series of security equipment and vehicles to the State Police Command and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), charging them to ensure that the equipment are deployed effectively to tackle criminal activities in the state. Over 100 4-Door Salon Cars, 55 Ford Ranger Pick-Ups, 10 Toyota Land Cruiser Pick-Ups, 15 BMW Power Bikes, 100 Power Bikes, Isuzu Trucks, three (3) Helicopters, two(2) Gun Boats, 15 Armoured Personnel Carriers, Revolving Lights, Siren and Public Address System, Vehicular Radio Communicators, Security Gadgets including Bullet Proof Vests, Helmets, Handcuffs, etc, Uniforms and…
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has advised Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIOs) in Kaduna State to avoid extortion and other forms of corrupt practices. The ICPC North-West Zonal Commissioner, Mr Olusegun Adigun, gave the advice on Thursday at a two-day workshop for VIOs in the state themed “Combating Corruption in Vehicle Inspection System: The Role of ICPC”. It was organised by the ICPC in collaboration with the Kaduna State Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport. According to Adigun, who was represented by the Zonal Assistant Commissioner, Malam Musa Alkali, the level of extortion and bribery by…
Chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly, in Nigeria and Speaker, Borno State House of Assembly, Abdulkarim Lawan, has said only one local government is yet to be liberated from the Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State. He assured that the December deadline to rout the Boko Haram insurgents from Nigeria would be met. Lawan spoke in Ilorin, yesterday, at the Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly organised to deliberate on a model administration of criminal justice act. “As of now, only one local government is yet to be liberated from the clutch of the Boko…
Nigerian Government, yesterday, revealed plans to set up a $25 billion infrastructure fund to bridge the funding gap in infrastructure development in the country. The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, made the disclosure at the inauguration of the 10-year Capital Market Master Plan, Nigeria Investor Protection Fund (NIPF), and the launch of the Corporate Governance Scorecard for quoted companies by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Lagos. According to her, setting up the fund became necessary due to the need to upgrade the country’s current infrastructure. She, therefore, urged the capital market community to come up with other…
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), yesterday blamed the persistent fuel crisis in the country on the continuous vandalisation of the System 2B pipeline at Arepo, sharp practices by oil marketers and the delay in the payment of outstanding subsidy claims to the marketers. In a presentation to the Senate Committee, Managing Director of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the NNPC, Mrs. Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, stated that Nigeria has lost a total of 531 million litres of petrol valued at over N50 billion to pipeline vandals between January and September, 2015, at the problematic System 2B…
The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare Governor Idris Wada of the PDP as winner of the November 21 inconclusive governorship election in Kogi State. The opposition party made this position known in a communique issued at the end of its emergency national caucus meeting on Wednesday in Abuja. The communique, read by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, among others, demanded the exclusion of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the supplementary election slated for December 5. The INEC had declared the polls inconclusive…
Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose on Thursday picked holes in President Muhammadu Buhari’s claim that many of those who looted public funds in the past administration had started returning their loot, saying the president should rather stay at home to govern the country instead of junketing around the globe and acting like a saint before the international community. Fayose, who is an outspoken critic of the Buhari administration, challenged the president to tell Nigerians how much was returned and the looters who returned the stolen funds, adding that “Since the purported looted funds belong to the Federal Republic of Nigeria,…
A former governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State, Dr Umar Ardo, has dissociated himself from a statement by Ahmed Ali Gulak that the North-east zone may withdraw from the PDP over the failure of the party to allow the region fill the national chairmanship position of the party. It would be recalled that Gulak, who was a Special Adviser on Political Matters to former President Goodluck Jonathan, had said in Abuja on Tuesday that members of the party from the North-east zone may pull out from the PDP if the chairmanship tussle was not properly…
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed sadness over the death of the chairman of the Benue State Traditional Council and the Paramount Ruler of Tiv Land, the Tor Tiv, Alfred Akawe Torkula. He described the late Torkula as a reformist whose candor encouraged peaceful co-existence of different ethnic nationalities in Benue State. The Tor Tiv, who was installed as the fourth Tor Tiv in April 1991, died on Monday at a private hospital in Gboko at the age of 71. In a condolence letter to the deceased’s family and the Benue State Government, Jonathan said: “The late Tor Tiv was…
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), says the problem of traffic gridlock at Apapa in Lagos State will persist until the fuel scarcity is resolved. The union attributed the traffic gridlock to the activities of pipeline vandals, which forced the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, depots to stop loading fuel. The South-West chairman of NUPENG, Mr Tokunbo Korodo, who made this known on Thursday while speaking to journalists in Lagos, said that tanker drivers were now coming to private depots in Lagos to load fuel. The NUPENG chair pointed out that the traffic gridlock would have not…