Mrs Ndidi Abanum has vowed to make ex-militants commissioners in her cabinet if she becomes the next governor of Delta State. Abanum, who picked up a nomination form of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday ahead of the party’s November 29 Governorship Primary election, also said she would bridge the gap between the rich and the poor in the state. Abanum, who hails from the Ukwani speaking part of Delta, announced that she was not one to be intimidated out of the race by anybody. She promised to fight poverty if elected. “When you put food on the table of…
Author: Wale Adebayo
The race to beat the October 31st deadline for the purchase of nomination and expression of interest forms in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has started. Former governor of Oyo State, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala was at the National Secretariat of the party yesterday to purchase his expression of interest and nomination forms ahead of the November 29 Governorship Primary election of the PDP, as he seeks a return to the Oyo State government House in the 2015 election. Akala, who spoke with journalists after picking his forms, said the PDP had learnt from its loss in the last election in…
President Goodluck Jonathan has for long kept mum on whether he would run for re-election in 2015, but now he has been given a deadline by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to make a formal declaration. According to the national leadership of the PDP, the President and other aspirants vying for elective positions must within the next one week purchase their expression of interest and nomination forms, as the party cannot go for a national convention to ratify someone who has not indicated interest to contest. National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh told journalists at the party’s…
Senate President David Mark has told the Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that it reserves every right to choose its own flag bearer for the coming governorship election. Mark said this while dismissing insinuations that PDP Integration Committee for the South West was plotting to impose a gubernatorial candidate on the party in the state. “You are to choose your flagbearer and ensure that PDP wins elections in Oyo State. That is the agenda handed over to us,” said Mark, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publications, Kola Ologbondiyan. “The committee…
PHOTO CREDIT: REUBEN ABATI President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday in Jigawa, said governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party would continue to control happenings in the party until something is done about how delegates are selected to partake in national elections. Speaking during a stakeholders interactive session at the Jigawa State Government House shortly after he inaugurated the new Dutse International Airport, the president explained that with the party’s current delegates pattern for national elections, any governor worth his salt should be able to control not less than 70 per cent of the delegates from his state.…
About 150,000 children die annually in Nigeria due to poor sanitation and consumption of unsafe water, the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) has said. “In Nigeria every year, we have about 150,000 children that die largely due to diarrhea mostly associated with unsafe water sanitation and hygiene,” said Kanaan Nadar, UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Chief in Nigeria on the occasion of the 2014 global hand washing day celebration in Abuja. “Hand washing can actually step down … diarrhea death to almost 50 percent and reduce pneumonia to almost 40 per cent. So hand washing is really important,” he…
In appreciation of their fight against Boko Haram, any Nigerian soldier who flies Air Peace will not pay more than N10,000, Barrister Allen Onyema, Air Peace Chairman and CEO has said. Onyema, who is also the founder of Foundation for Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria (FEHN), a non-governmental organisation, which has been instrumental to the embrace of non-violence in different parts of the country, said this Tuesday, as his airline launched in Lagos, with seven aircraft that will fly to Abuja, Lagos, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Owerri. The airline came with a promise to provide comfortable and safe flights to Nigerians,…
In a statement that shows support for devolution of power, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha has blamed Nigeria’s stunted growth on the concentration of powers and resources at the centre. Ihedioha, who spoke yesterday during the visit of Kenya National Assembly’s Constitutional Implementation Committee led by Hon. Njoroge Baiya. “A perusal of the various constitutions of Nigeria since 1960 shows that the Exclusive List had constantly been increasing mainly as a result of military involvement in governance,” said Ihedioha. “Resources are concentrated at the centre, such that the Central Government takes more than 50 percent…
Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State on Tuesday categorically stated that he is not under pressure from any quarter to drop his presidential ambition for any aspirant under the guise of consensus arrangement. The four leading presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress, APC, – founder of LEADERSHIP Group, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, former head of state, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), former vice president Atiku Abubakar and Kwankwaso, have expressed their determination to slug it out at the party’s December 29 primaries, but there are speculations that talks are ongoing to get the aspirants to agree among themselves on a consensus…
President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday carried out a minor re-shuffling of his cabinet as he directed the Minister of State II, for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Nurudeen Mohammed, to take over as the Supervising Minister of Information pending the time a substantive minister would be appointed. The position became vacant following the resignation of Mr. Labaran Maku, who left the Federal Executive Council to pursue his gubernatorial ambition in Nassarawa State. The new supervising minister of information broke the news to State House correspondents at the end of the weekly FEC meeting presided over by Jonathan. He said President Jonathan also…
Very talented Nollywood actress Nse Ikpe Etim turned a year older yesterday. The actress, who hails from Akwa Ibom State and had her primary and secondary education in Kaduna, Jos and Ilorin and for her university education, she earned a degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Calabar. Nse, the first of six children, has made strong impressions in movies like Mr and Mrs, Phone Swap in which she was cast as the main character since hitting the front-line in Nigeria’s mainstream movie industry. She began her acting career at the age of 18 during her university days and after her graduation from…
Exactly a week from today, Nollywood superstar actress Mercy Johnson Okojie gave birth to her second child, a baby boy at St Joseph Hospital, University of Maryland, Baltimore. The baby boy is the 2nd child of Mercy and her husband, Prince Odias Okojie after their widely reported marriage in 2012 , which earlier produced a baby girl named ’Purity’. I gathered today that the couple has christened their new baby boy Henry Okojie. The name Henry is influenced by Prince Okojie’s admiration for the famous ‘King Henry of England’.
The All Progressive Congress on Tuesday said it will hold the leader of the disbanded Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Mujahid Dokubo-Asari responsible should any harm befall its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. In a letter to the Presidency, the acting Inspector-General of Police, IGP Suleiman Abba and the Director General of the State Security Service, Mr. Ita Ekpenyong, over the recent threat of violence by Mr. Dokubo-Asari against its spokesman, the main opposition party asked the government and security agencies to call the ex-militant to order. The letter signed by APC National Secretary, Mala Buni and made…
It seems this is the month for all celebrity babies to be born. Nollywood actress, Laide Bakare has become the latest mother in the Nigerian entertainment industry after Mercy Johnson. The actress, one of the most active practitioners in the Yoruba section of Nollywood, delivered a baby boy late Tuesday, October 21, 2014 in far away New York, United States of America. The happy and excited actress, who has just given birth to her third child, broke the news when she excitedly sent a broadcast message on Blackberry saying, ‘Yes, Yes, It’s a boy. ‘My boy arrived at exactly 4:30pm American…
She might be going through a nasty divorce mess now but Ini Edo seems determined to not think too much about it. The marriage of Nollywood actress, Ini Edo might have just crashed but in case anyone is in doubt, the movie star is showing money is not a problem for her. Ini has reportedly acquired a brand new 2014 Mercedez Benz G65 which is said to be worth a whopping N38Million. A source close to the actress, who recently announced that she decided to divorce her husband, hinting of a malicious plan to malign and discredit her, revealed that…
This is something that happened years ago and I don’t why it’s making headlines again. Ghanaian actress and movie producer, Yvonne Nelson, says she isn’t happy with reports that she was jilted by Nigerian music star, Iyanya. The actress, in an interview with All Africa recently, is furious that after she granted two major interviews on her controversial love life with the ‘Your waist’ singer last year, many still hold the view that Iyanya dumped her. ‘I granted interviews on this whole thing: Bella Naija and Toolz (The Juice). I don’t want to repeat myself,’ she said. Speaking further, she reportedly…
Traditional rulers in Kwara North Senatorial Zone have endorsed Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed for a second term in office. The traditional rulers, led by the Etsu Patigi and Vice-Chairman of the State Traditional Council, Alhaji Ibrahim Umar, gave the governor their blessings when they paid him a congratulatory visit on his recent awards, both at home and in France. Information Nigeria reports that the Kwara State Government’s Health Insurance Scheme, which entitles beneficiaries to subsidized year round basic healthcare for a N500 premium, won a finalist prize at the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Assistance Committee awards for taking…
The Ekiti State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has urged the Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, to probe the administration of his predecessor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. The party said Governor Fayose must ensure that Fayemi and his team explained to the people why they left a huge debt burden for the state. The state PDP, according to a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Wole Oluwawole, said disclosures on the huge debt left behind by the past All Progressives Congress-led administration in the state was not surprising. Oluwawole alleged that a former governor, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, also left a huge…
Following the clash between rival groups in Ilaro, Ogun State, on Monday, Gov. Ibikunle Amosun has urged politicians in the All Progressives Congress, APC, to shun all forms of political thuggery or risk being disqualified by the national leadership of the party. He gave the warning on Tuesday in Ifo, Ifo Local Government Area of the state, in continuation of his assessment tour to local governments in the state. Some hoodlums reportedly engaged in a bloody fight on Monday in a bid to assert their supremacy during the governor’s tour. An unidentified man was said to have died in the…
A bill entitled: A Bill for an Act to amend the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Act to provide for competition in Nigeria, to promote efficiency and expand opportunities for participation of Nigerians in world markets while at the same time recognising the role of foreign competition in Nigeria and for other matters related thereto, has passed the second reading. A member of the House of Representatives, Hajiya Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed yesterday, in her submission, while defending the bill to amend the NBC Act, asked that the Act be amended to protect consumers and check monopoly of DSTV and other cable…