People have been “buying and selling votes” since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said, noting that there had not been any free and fair elections in the country since then. Jonathan said this must stop! He therefore urged Nigerians, especially the youths, not to allow anybody to buy their votes during the forth coming elections. He made the call at Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, while addressing a large crowd of supporters of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the Abakaliki Township Stadium in the course of his nationwide wide campaign. Addressing youths whom he said were…
Author: Wale Adebayo
The people of Chibok on Friday said President Goodluck Jonathan was not sincere about the search for their daughters abducted on April 14, 2014 from their Government Secondary School. The town spoke through the spokesman of Kibaku community, Dr. Allen Mannaseh. They expressed sadness that the federal government had not been able to bring the girls home 277 days after they were abducted. To make matters worse, the president said nothing about it during his visit to Maiduguri on Thursday, according to Thisday. In an unexpected visit, Jonathan was in Maiduguri on Thursday, where he checked on the Internally Displaced…
The Nigerian military spokesman, Maj. Gen Chris Olukolade says Boko Haram has never been seen as controlling any part of Nigeria. Olukolade spoke in a phone interview with CNN’s Christine Amanpour on Thursday, following Boko Haram’s attacks in Nigeria’s northeast, described as the deadliest onslaught by human rights group, Amnesty International. “Yes, the activities of terrorism – they are prevalent in certain isolated communities, here and there. It is part of the reality of the moment, we recognize such as a thing to be addressed, but we have never considered that any portion of Nigeria is under their control,” Olukolade…
The budget for the office of the Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola Office for 2015 is N18,645,514,610, according to Gboyega Oyetola, the Chief of Staff to the governor. Speaking, Friday, while defending the budget of the Governor’s Office before the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Oyetola said N6,925,000,000 is for recurrent expenditure and N11,720,514,610 for capital expenditure. “The budget size for the year represents a 36.13 percent reduction in the size of the budget for year 2014,” said Oyetola. He said the Office of the Governor proposed to raise N3,025,000,000 as revenue through tender fees, registration of contractors,…
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday said it was still considering fresh voter registration for eligible persons yet to register and for those with Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) problem. Mr Emmanuel Idakwo, the Head of INEC office in Abuja Municipal Area Council, Karu, gave this hint in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. Idakwo said that many unregistered persons trooped into INEC office daily with various complaints, adding that the situation had put the commission under pressure which may engender fresh registration for few days. He said that there were people with Temporary…
The Secretary, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BOT), Senator Walid Jibril, has said the party welcomes former Minister of Information and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Nasarawa State, Labaran Maku, to campaign for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan. Maku, who held key positions on the platform of the PDP at both state and federals for 14 of the 16 years the party has been in power, recently defected to APGA after he complained of injustice against him in the conduct of the 2014 governorship primary of the PDP, which he failed to…
A Zamfara State Peoples Democratic Party governorship aspirant, Alhaji Sagir Hamidu, accompanied by some of his supporters, on Thursday, visited the campaign office of former Minister of the FCT, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, in Kaduna. El-Rufai is the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kaduna State. Hamidu, in what appeared to be an expression of lack of confidence in the leadership of his party, told journalists that the PDP was full of injustice and impunity. He added that he was short-changed in the party’s primaries, which threw up a former Governor of the state (Zamfara), Alhaji Mahmud Shinkafi,…
The two chambers of the National Assembly have passed into law a bill, which seeks the creation of the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Board. The bill, among others, empowers the Federal Capital Territory Administration to establish its own Internal Revenue Board, which would have, among others, the legal powers to collect tax on property. A harmonised report of the conference committee of the Senate and House of Representatives, which was seen by our reporter in Abuja on Thursday, also empowered the FCTA to establish its own Internal Revenue Service and Management Board. Among other powers given to the board,…
A former Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, on Thursday described the present government in Nigeria as clueless. He said that the country needed an urgent rescue from what he termed “imminent brink of irredeemable destruction”. The cleric, therefore, enjoined Nigerians to wake up from their slumber and face the reality by electing into the position of leadership only persons “who know what to do”. He added that effort must be made to educate the average Nigerian to choose their leader based on capability and not on the basis of ethnic or religious affiliations. The cleric made these views…
Intimacy before marriage is always an intriguing topic to discuss, whether you think it is wrong or quite good. Nollywood celebrities have revealed their points of view on this controversial topic as well. 1. Foluke Daramola The Nollywood actress shared a sad story, and her opinion on intimacy before marriage, in her interview with The Punch: “My first introduction to s*x was r*pe. It was with one of our tenants. I got so close to him and saw him as an elder brother. He looked at me as someone that had been exposed because I was busty and he thought…
This is bad news for Chris Brown fans and the talented singer himself. It just seems like Chris Brown can’t fully escape the four walls of prison cell, no matter how hard he tries. Chris Brown is still on probation even after leaving the prison late last year and officials are worried about more shootings and think Breezy should be locked behind bars again. According to TMZ. Chris went for a progress report on Thursday, when the judge told him that the probation report presented multiple problems. One of them is the shooting last Sunday in San Jose when Chris was on…
One of the funniest men in Africa, Basketmouth, has hit another milestone. Internationally known TV network, Aljazeera are doing a documentary on ace comedian, Basketmouth. They followed him to his secondary school, United Christian Secondary School, Apapa, Lagos. Basketmouth shared the pics and captioned it with “Did I ever mention that Aljazeera is doing a documentary on me? And yeah…they followed me to my secondary school. We can only thank God for great opportunities like this.”
Some of you would remember that there was a fierce rumor months ago that Chelsea Midfielder Mikel Obi was dating Nollywood screen goddess, Genevieve Nnaji. Mikel has now come out to say that Genevieve is a lovely person. The out of favor Chelsea player who is currently in a romantic relationship with a Russian girl, revealed that himself and Genevieve have a working relationship as a result of their endorsement by the same brand, Amstel Malta which saw them interracting and creating a close work related relationship. When asked about what he feels about her at a recent event, Obi…
It’s really crazy how time changes everything. Once the greatest of all time, now he can barely lift his hands. Reliable sources say that the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali has been hospitalised again. You’ll recall that he was just released from hospital last week, where he was being treated for a urinary tract infection. The 73-year-old legend has been admitted to the ICU after he was found unresponsive by guests staying at his Scottsdale, Arizona home. He is currently undergoing tests to determine what is wrong, with results expected later tonight.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has announced the dismissal of two of its officials for alleged burglary and theft of Permanent Voter Cards in its Patani Local Government Area office of Delta state. This information was contained in the commission’s daily bulletin released in Abuja on Thursday. The dismissed officers are: Mr. Collins Omofoma (SGL 09 Officer) and Mr. Onome Avbunudiogba (SGL 07 Officer). Also, the Commission said it has terminated the appointment of Mrs Obi Chinwoke Ugochi, an Administrative Officer II (SGL 08) for alleged absence from duty without leave. Mrs Ugochi is of the Commission’s Anambra State office.…
A group of concerned youths in Bayelsa State under the aegis of Bayelsa Youth Vanguard, has threatened to disrupt the Peoples Democratic Party presidential rally if the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, accompanies her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan. The president’s campaign rally is slated for February 5 in the state capital, Yenagoa. The youth, therefore, warned Mrs. Jonathan not to accompany her husband for the presidential campaign. The warning, the group said, was sequel to what it described as attempts by the president’s wife to destabilize the state and fuel needless crisis and political tension in the state. The Spokesperson…
Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Thursday dismissed claims that he had endorsed any presidential and governorship candidate ahead of the February general elections. The social media space had been awash with reports in the last few weeks that the Nobel laureate had subtly endorsed the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate and incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan, by denouncing his major rival, Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress. “He (Jonathan) is the first president without any ties to the military mafia. All his children are in schools here in Nigeria. You cannot come across a skyscraper in any corner of…
PHOTO: NPF WEBESITE The Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, has again ordered commanding officers nationwide to take measures to secure arms and ammunition at police commands, formations and units nationwide. Mr. Abba, in a statement issued by the force spokesperson, Emmanuel Ojukwu, on Thursday ordered Zonal Assistant Inspectors-General of Police and Commissioners of Police in charge of the states to ensure this. He said such measures became imperative to ward off possible attempt by hoodlums or men of the underworld to attack police stations and other installations. He further directed the commissioners to beef up security at banks within their…
DR. SAMPSON PARKER, Rivers Commissioner FOR HEALTH The Commissioner for Health in Rivers, Sampson Parker, on Wednesday said that cholera outbreak in 11 communities in the state had claimed 20 lives. Mr. Parker told journalists in Port Harcourt after visiting the affected communities in Andoni Local Government Area that the outbreak was reported on January 5. “So far, 171 cases have been recorded with 20 deaths in the outbreak which was reported on January 5”, he said. “The Local Government Area Rapid Response Team with State Emergency Response Team, have responded swiftly”. Mr. Parker also said two treatment centres had…
Super Eagles star and Chelsea FC player, Mikel Obi had nothing but praises when asked about his relationship with delectable actress Genevieve Nnaji. The soccer star revealed that himself and Genevieve have a working relationship as a result of their endorsement by the same brand, Amstel Malta which saw them interracting and creating a close work related relationship. When asked about what he feels about her at a recent event, Obi said: “We work together, it’s a working relationship”. “We endorsed Amstel Malta together, she’s a very nice person; I spoke to her a few times and she’s a…