The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, on Tuesday said that in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s December deadline for stamping out Boko Haram, more equipment and troops have been deployed to the Northeast. Addressing officers and men of 130 Battalion of the Nigerian Army in Okuku, Ogoja Local Government Area of Cross River State, Buratai called for the commitment of the soldiers to achieve the target. He said, “So far our operations in the northeast of the country are gathering momentum. They are doing very well and doing the Nigerian Army very proud. I am sure…
Author: Wale Adebayo
The Restoration Campaign Organization of Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has said the leadership and members of the Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), will on Saturday, November 28 attend the grand finale of Dickson’s political campaign ahead of the governorship election in the state. Mr. Dickson is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the December 5 election. A statement signed on Tuesday by the Restoration Campaign Organisation (RCO) said the leadership of MEND will attend the campaign’s grand finale to sensitise people on the need for a peaceful poll in the state. The claim by the…
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Solomon Arase on Tuesday praised officers and men of the Nigeria Police for arresting four members of the Agbara bank robbery gang. Arase implored all police commands/formations to change their game particularly in intelligence gathering towards providing adequate security for the citizenry. Force spokesperson Olabisi Kolawole, in a statement, said: “The gang leader, simply identified as Kelly Rotor, was arrested amid heavy shootout between the operatives of the Special Intelligence Response Team at Sapele, Delta State. Arms and ammunition were recovered from the arrested hoodlums”. The IG promised that the police would soon catch up…
The Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) on Tuesday denied reports that it endorsed the re-election bid of Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson. The group in a statement signed by its Spokesman, Gbomo Jomo, dissociated itself from a statement endorsing Dickson’s ambition, credited to one Prince Amaibi Horby (aka General Busta Rhymes), who claimed to be its acting chairman and 12 others. The statement by Horby, which purportedly endorsed Dickson, also warned President Muhammadu Buhari against any attempt to rig the forthcoming governorship election in Bayelsa, if he does not want to re-awaken “a sleeping dog”. The militant group,…
Cross River State Governor, Senator Ben Ayade yesterday advised governors in the country to focus on delivering dividends of democracy to the people in their first terms, instead of nursing second term ambitions. “Second term is not my excitement”, he said. “My excitement is to serve now. I don’t have desperation for second term”. The governor called for the re-evaluation of politics, saying primitive acquisition should not displace service delivery. According to him, “If to make money is the reason you are in office, you have failed. If it is to serve, you are in the right path”. Ayade, who…
Two army officers have been arrested for acts suspected to be meant to sabotage the military’s fight against terrorism. A statement by Army spokesman Col. Sani Usman titled Alert On Impending Smear Campaign By Some Disgruntled Elements said preliminary indications established that the Nigerian Army and Chief of Army Staff Lt. General Tukur Buratai are prime targets of the smear campaign. “The Nigerian Army has received report of some elements both within the Nigerian Army and outside, especially through the use of the social media circle to ridicule the Nigerian Army and the person of the Chief of Army Staff…
The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, has extended the Nigerian Police Force’s condolence to the family and friends of the late governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Kogi State, Abubakar Audu. A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, said Arase prayed to God to give the late Audu’s family and friends the fortitude to “bear the irreparable loss” and to grant the deceased eternal rest. The IGP also commended the residents of Kogi State for their peaceful and orderly conduct during Saturday’s inconclusive governorship election and called for a similar level of corporation…
Former officials of the immediate past administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan have started refunding part of their loots, President Muhammadu Buhari has said. The statement attributed to President Buhari has confirmed speculation that former officials of the past government had volunteered to return such stolen public funds in exchange for leniency. Addressing Nigerians resident in Tehran, the capital of Iran where he attended a summit of ’ Forum (GECF), the president also explained why those accused of corruption had not been charged to court, saying that it was due to the need to build a solid case against them when…
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has expressed concern over the increasing agitation for Biafra by some Igbo groups. The Sultan said in order to prevent the situation from deteriorating any further, the northern traditional council would soon send a delegation to meet with their South-East counterparts. Sultan Abubakar made this known yesterday at the second General Assembly of the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council in Kaduna. The Sultan, who chairs the council, said millions of Igbo resident in all parts of the country were not in support of the renewed agitation for Biafra, hence, the need to send…
All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the April 11 governorship election in Rivers State, Dakuku Peterside, has lamented the loss of lives during the last election, saying there was a need to honour those who died. Dakuku, who spoke Tuesday, lamented that many people died during the exercise due to “wide spread violence”, and that a church service will be held, just as other activities will be organized in their memory. “We will do our best to honour all those who died in the process of exercising their civic rights. Those people were killed by enemies of the country and the best way…
If you have had the painful experience of having your airtime balance deducted from your account upon the exhaustion of your data bundle without your permission, then this news might just excite you as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is set to sanction MTN, Airtel and Globacom for this unethical practice. The NCC on Monday in its ‘2015 3Q Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Report’, said the aforementioned networks defied the directive on automatic migration to Pay-As-You-Go data bundle. The NCC said it had continued to receive complaints from subscribers on automatic migration of data bundle package to Pay-As-You-Go Billing on…
The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki yesterday pledged that the 8th Senate would break the jinx and the long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to stimulate the country’s economy. Speaking during the inauguration of 12 standing committees of the Senate, Saraki said the legislature this time around has adopted the Bill as one of their legislative agenda. The committees are: Education (Basic and Secondary), Women Affairs, Privatization, Petroleum (Upstream and Downstream), Culture and Tourism, Gas Resources, Employment, Labour and Productivity, States and Local Government, Special Duties Affairs, Establishment and Public Service, and Sports and Youth Development. According to the Senate president,…
Contrary to media speculation that the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu, died as early as 6 A.M on Sunday, his younger brother has come out to say the former governor passed away shortly after the results of the inconclusive polls was announced. According to the brother – Alhaji Tijani Audu, the APC candidate died after the Returning Officer, Prof Emmanuel Kucha, declared the election inconclusive, and not on Sunday morning. There were unconfirmed reports that Audu died early Sunday morning but a prominent chieftain of the party allegedly stalled the announcement so as not…
The Federal Government, yesterday, asked the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court to revoke the bail it granted the former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, retd. In an application it filed pursuant to section 169 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, the government sought an order committing the former NSA to prison pending his trial. Vanguard recalled that although Dasuki was on September 1, granted bail by the high court on self recognition, trial Justice Ademola Adeniyi, on November 13, while granting the defendant leave to travel abroad for medical treatment, varied his bail condition.…
The Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) Monday said it recovered over N360 billion from the operating surpluses of Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs). The chairman of the commission, Victor Muruako said this during a 2-day training tour of Ebonyi State Fiscal Responsibility Commission to FRC Abuja. “As part of our mandate, we have gone out to look for these revenues from agencies that have been hiding their report and we have retrieved over 360billion naira by our activities from the consolidated revenue funds,” Muruako said. He said that the commission at present has embarked “on investigative visits to several agencies which…
The Speaker of the House Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara has urged the Presidency to make adequate budgetary provision in 2016 for the resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country. The Speaker made the call in his remarks at the sensitization workshop on the role of the parliament in addressing the challenges of IDPs in Nigeria, organized by the House Committee on Internally Displaced Persons, (IDPs) Refugees, and Initiatives on the Northern East Geopolitical Zone. It was also done in collaboration with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Dogara also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to forward a bill…
Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has described the death of Prince Abubakar Audu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 21 gubernatorial election in Kogi State as a rude shock. A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Peter Okhiria quoted the Governor to have said: “I received with shock, the sad news of the death of Prince Abubakar Audu, candidate of our great party in the Kogi state gubernatorial election. “I was with Prince Audu just a few days ago, at the mega rally of our great party, where we marketed our party’s manisfesto to the…
The Federal Government has declared that to deepen the development of the power sector, there is still need for a lot of investment. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Mr. Louis Edozien, said this at the 5th Nigeria International Power Expo and Conference, which held weekend in Abuja, with the theme: “Private Sector Partnership in Achieving Sustainability of Power Supply in Nigeria.” According to him, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has shown singular leadership and initiatives in ensuring that Nigeria leap-frogs in its quest to achieving its dream of becoming one of the best economies in the world by the…
Assistant Inspector General of Police, Bala Hassan, who is in charge of Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, says that certainty of arrest and prosecution of criminals in the country would discourage the perpetrators. Speaking on Monday in Lagos while speaking on the arrest of some armed robbers and measures put in place to secure the waterways and make the Yuletide crime-free, Hassan said: “When there is certainty of arrest, prosecution and punishment, people will be deterred from committing crime. That is our philosophy. “The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Solomon Arase, has also strengthened the legal department so that when…
President Muhammadu Buhari has called on the leadership of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) to sustain the pricing mechanism of gas in the international market to the advantage of its members. Speaking on Monday in Tehran, Republic of Iran, while delivering his speech at the ongoing 3rd Summit of GECF, Buhari noted that Nigeria has channelled its gas resources into appropriate areas for development of its economy. He urged GECF member-countries to show mutual technical and economic cooperation amongst themselves. The president also decried that the dwindling oil prices which he said has affected the income of the Country…