The Inspector General of Police, IGP Solomon Arase, has read the riot act to unscrupulous politicians in Kogi and Bayelsa States, warning them to conduct themselves within the ambits of the law or be “apmputated”. Arase’s warning came ahead of the governorship elections in both states scheduled for November 21 (Kogi) and December 5 (Bayelsa). The IGP spoke in Abuja during a meeting with Squadron Commanders in preparation for the elections and other issues affecting the police force. Addressing the officers, Mr. Arase said: “Again, gentlemen, we are at the threshold of another election in Kogi and Bayelsa states scheduled…
Author: Wale Adebayo
Petroleum marketers in the country will soon heave a sigh of relief as indications emerged yesterday that President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) has asked the National Assembly to approve the payment of their N413 billion claims. The payment of the outstanding subsidy claims is believed to be the key to ending the biting fuel scarcity across the country. According to a Presidency source, “only about N140 billion was appropriated for subsidy payment in the current budget and it has been exhausted”. “Out of respect for the parliament, the President insisted that the right thing must be done by seeking approval from…
For the second time in less than a month, daredevil armed robbers have attacked FESTAC town in Lagos State, shooting sporadically. According to eyewitnesses, the shooting occurred on Tuesday around 7th avenue in FESTAC. The latest attack on FESTAC is coming on the heels of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s assurance to make Lagos safe and secure for residents. [Daily Sun]
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and chairman of the recently concluded PDP national conference, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, has denied reports in the media credited to him that he apologized to Nigerians for his party’s alleged misrule of the country. Dokpesi, who is founder of African Independent Television (AIT) and Raypower FM station, last week was widely quoted as saying that the PDP should have kept to its zoning agreement, adding that it was a mistake to have fielded ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 and 2015 when a northerner should have been allowed to emerge as the former ruling party’s presidential…
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, yesterday called on President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) to strengthen the independence of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for effective functioning. Speaking, yesterday, in Abuja, at the beginning of a two-day National Assembly dialogue on economy, security and development, organized by the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS), Dogara, who called for the strengthening of these agencies, said that the enduring fight against corruption must be waged through the instrumentality of law and legislation, stressing that people could only be accountable…
Africa’s richest man and World’s richest black man, Aliko Dangote plans to make millionaires out of Nigerians as his Dangote Industries Limited will offer at least 3,783 customers across the country the opportunity of a life time in a 90-day promo with prize money in excess of N300 million. Executive Director, Stakeholder Management and Corporate Communications of the company, Mr Mansur Ahmed, who stated this at a forum in Lagos, explained that Dangote’s focus was to touch the lives of people by increasing the affordability of their basic need. “We have been working and improving on the quality of cement…
President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB), yesterday, said in Abuja that his administration was not in a hurry to prosecute those suspected to have stolen from the public coffers until verifiable evidences were fully documented against them. According to him, everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty by the law. “Under military rule, people could be arrested and held on the basis of suspicion, but in a true democracy, anyone accused of an offence must be presumed innocent until pronounced guilty by a court of law,” he told a delegation from the Foursquare Gospel Church, at the Presidential Villa. He congratulated the…
Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Monday stated that the federal government was working on providing alternative energy sources through a mix of renewable and nuclear energy to improve power generation in the country. He also disclosed that in addition to the existing mix of hydro and thermal sources of power generation, there were efforts to equally utilize other sources of energy including the solar option. “The long and short of it is that we definitely need a mix of energy choices because in the next decade such a mix will be imperative,” Osinbajo said while receiving a delegation of…
A coalition of civil society organisations led by the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), on Monday called on the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Mr. Danladi Umar, to resign his position as the chairman of the tribunal over corruption allegation. The groups made up of SNG, Northern Youth Democratic Movement and Arewa Voters Assembly, also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend Umar from office as chairman if he fails to resign. National Co-ordinator of SNG, Barrister Benedict Ezeagu, while addresing journalists said, considering the weight of allegation and the monumental evidence against Mr. Umar, it is clear that he…
The Coalition of Arewa Youth Development Foundations (AYDF) has said it is planning a meeting aimed at mounting pressure on Igbos residing or carrying out business in any part of the North to relocate to the South-east and all Northerners residing in the South-east should return back to the north, and they have two weeks to comply. The coalition of Northern youths explained that its action is necessitated by the renewed threat of secession by Igbo secessionist group which is being backed by some of their governments and leaders by humiliating and harassing petty Northern traders and others residents in the South-east. The Coalition…
Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has warned Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state against rejecting corps members posted to them. Mr. El-Rufai gave the warning in Kaduna on Monday at the end of orientation course for the 2,450 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members deployed to the state under the first stream of 2015 batch ‘B’. He said the government would view with seriousness any case of rejection of corps members by any agency. “I am fully aware that the major challenge of corps members after the orientation course is rejection by prospective employers. “To this end,…
The presidency has debunked claims by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), that it plans to rig Saturday’s governorship election in Kogi State in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The PDP, had, yesterday, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, raised an alarm over what it described as plot by the APC and the Presidency to rig the elections in favour of the APC. Metuh claimed that the party had information that the Presidency convened a clandestine meeting with the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to perfect plans to rig…
The Nigerian Army said it arrested another suspected Boko Haram terrorist kingpin, Mr John Trankil, at Kasuwar Shanu area of Maiduguri metropolis yesterday. The Media Coordinator, Operation Lafiya Dole, Col. Tukur Gusau, said this in a statement in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital on Monday. “Troops of 7 Division Garrison Nigerian Army in Operation Lafiya Dole, made a remarkable progress by arresting a Boko Haram Terrorist kingpin, Mr John Trankil, at Kasuwar Shanu in Maiduguri metropolis. “Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect said that nine of them sneaked into Maiduguri armed with AK 47 assault rifle each and a Toyota…
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, said that former President Goodluck Jonathan and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) were not mentally prepared for the defeat they suffered during the last general elections. Buhari spoke through the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a keynote address delivered at an event on Strengthening Nigeria’s Transition Framework for Democratic Consolidation organized by the National Democratic Institute, NDI. The address was entitled: “The Challenges of Transition in Nigeria and the Imperatives for a New Framework.” “Our experience in the last transition process was unique despite the fact that we have held many…
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has dismissed as a contrived distraction the alleged fraud in the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the rumoured diversion of the TSA funds to bankroll elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States. ”It is understandable that the psyche of those who are making the frivolous allegations concerning the TSA has been badly affected by the impunity that permeated the country under the immediate past Administration, when unappropriated funds were freely used to finance elections and the public till was seen as an extension of personal piggy banks,” Mohammed said in a statement…
Niger Delta activist, Ms Annkio Briggs, has declared that people of the region are yearning for control of their resources, not to break away from Nigeria. Briggs, who made this known as the weekend in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, urged the federal government not to misconstrue their demand for self-determination for secession, adding that what the people of Niger Delta truly want is to control their resources while still being part and parcel of “one indivisible Nigeria”. According to her “It is not illegal for a group of people to demand self-determination. The indigenous persons are recognised by the United…
The Nigerian Army has warned secessionists against agitating for the country’s break-up. The General Officer Commanding, 3 Division of the Nigerian Army, Jos, in Plateau State, Major General Hassan Umaru, gave the warning on Monday. Apart from Boko Haram insurgents in the North East of Nigeria, some separatists under the banner of Indigenous People of Biafra and Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra in the South-East, have been organizing street protests in recent time demanding for a Biafra Republic.
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday adjourned the case involving former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), till November 23. The Judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, who adjourned the case following an oral application from the Solicitor-General of the Federation, Mr Taiwo Abidogun. Ademola held that the adjournment would enable the Attorney General of the Federation appear and explain the siege on Dasuki’s Abuja residence. Abidogun, who appeared for the first time on Dasuki’s case, had told the court that the attorney-general and Minister of Justice had just been sworn-in. He told the court that he needed time…
President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) on Monday pledged that the sacrifices of Nigeria’s fallen heroes, heroines, and veterans who stood up to the security challenges facing the nation, won’t go unnoticed. He gave the assurance while launching the 2016 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Emblem and Appeal Fund at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration is observed annually on January 15 to commemorate the selfless service of members of the Nigerian Armed Forces in military campaigns and wars. The theme of the 2016 celebration is: “Motivating the Nigerian Armed Forces for Effective Service Delivery”. At the event, President…
Illegal miners in the country have been warned to put an end to their illegal activities as the Federal Government is now more than ever, ready to invoke the extant laws to bring them to justice in its bid to diversify the economy. The newly appointed Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who gave the warning yesterday, said President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) had given a marching order to rid the sector of illegal mining and generate more revenue into the nation’s coffers. Speaking with reporters in his hometown, Isan Ekiti in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Fayemi…