Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State has expressed total support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent declaration of a deadline to finally stem insurgency by the middle of October, describing the target as realistic if only all well-meaning Nigerians support the president. Mr. Jonathan set the deadline in Abuja on Thursday at the 66th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in reaction to fresh insurgency of the Boko Haram sect, which he affirmed is a secessionist agenda. Gov Yuguda told reporters in an interview in Abuja yesterday that with President Jonathan’s ongoing stepping-up of the anti-insurgency…
Author: Wale Adebayo
President Goodluck Jonathan was in Lagos yesterday, where he expressed gratitude to the members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for giving him the right of first refusal to as the party’s sole candidate for the 2015 Presidential election. Addressing party members at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos, at the South West sensitization and unity rally, Dr Jonathan said “I thank the party for giving me the right of first refusal, that is what happens in advance democracies. It also shows that our democracy is maturing. “There are no dictators in the PDP. There is no one who will…
Controversial American singer — Chris Brown, has seen it all and been through it all He was sentenced to six months community service and placed on probation for five years for assaulting his former girlfriend, Rihanna in 2009, but reveals that he would definitely work together with her in the studio once again should the opportunity arise. In a chat with ‘Access Hollywood,’ he said: ‘I think people kinda always get misconceptions because if you don’t see [Rihanna and I] in the headlines dating or with each other, it’s always, ‘Oh, they hate each other.’ ‘We are friends. We have…
This is bound to spark a little controversy among the two socialites and trust media outfits to exaggerate and make the gist sweeter. Award winning Ghanaian actress and TV host — Joselyn Dumas, shockingly revealed that a relationship beyond the professional with her industry mate, John Dumelo, is not likely to ever happen. When asked about John Dumelo being her ideal man in a recent interview on Peace FM’s entertainment show, the TV talk show host of @Home with Joselyn Dumas, said: ‘I don’t understand what you mean by asking if John Dumelo is my ideal man. But what I can say is that…
The Taraba State House of Assembly has set up a five-man medical team to investigate the “true state of health” of Governor Danbaba Suntai, who is recuperating from injuries he sustained from a plane crash on October 25, 2012. The Speaker, Josiah Sabo Kente, in a statement on Saturday, said the need to constitute the medical panel has become necessary following a unanimous demand by members of the state’s executive council. It would be recalled that prior to Suntai’s return from United Kingdom where he went for further treatment penultimate Saturday, the state’s commissioners and advisers had written the lawmakers…
Honestly, I think they deserve it. The amazing Kenyan afro-pop band, Sauti Sol succeeded in edging out Nigerian pop princess, Tiwa Savage out of the MTV EMA Best African Act wild card nominations section. Organisers of the premium awards ceremony threw the last slot in the Best African Act category open for votes and after the collation of all votes, Sauti Sol from Kenya emerged winners, thus joining Davido, Goldfish, Diamond and Toofan in the hotly contested category for African music stars. The band Sauti Sol, is a popular band formed in Nairobi by vocalists Bien-Aimé Baraza, Willis Chimano and Delvin Mudigi in…
A man jumped over the fence of the White House and made it through the front door before officers managed to apprehend him, just minutes after President Barack Obama had departed, the Secret Service said. After scaling the fence on the north side of the White House at around 7:20pm local time, Omar J. Gonzalez, 42 of Copperas Cove, Texas, darted toward the presidential residence, ignoring commands from officers to stop, said Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan. He was ultimately apprehended just inside the North Portico doors — the grand, columned entrance that looks out over Pennsylvania Avenue. The White…
Several people have been killed as Boko Haram gunmen dressed in police and army uniforms stormed a crowded market in Borno State, while also carting away food, according to witnesses. Dozens of insurgents attacked the town of Mainok, 56 kilometres outside Maiduguri, the state capital late Thursday, firing a rocket-propelled grenade and spraying the market with bullets. “They struck around 1:30pm (1230GMT) during peak hours by first firing a rocket-propelled grenade at the market before opening fire on traders”, Salman Lawan, a trader who witnessed the carnage told AFP. “They killed several people in the attack but it is difficult…
Korede Bello is one of the hottest stars in the music industry at the moment. Don Jazzy has definitely hit a jackpot on this one. The young, talented and handsome singer has opened up that he started out by forming a music group back when he was just in Primary 5. He shared this secret tit-bit in a recent interview with Toke Makinwa, on her show ‘Trending’ which airs on HipTV. When Korede was asked what music was like for him while growing up,Bello said: ‘I never knew I wanted to do music but it has always been a part of me. I love…
President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday in Abuja expressed excitement at the N10, 000 donated toward his re-election by a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Ezemagu Nnamdi. The president’s excitement was contained in a statement issued by Dr Reuben Abati, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity. Abati said that the president was deeply touched and encouraged by the immense support from Nigerians in a letter to the young Nigerian identified as the donor, currently serving. The president was quoted as saying he would continue to count on the support, goodwill and prayers of patriotic Nigerians as he strives to…
The Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, on Friday called on all leaders to harbour no fear in speaking out the truth. The sultan was speaking when he received former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) in his palace in Sokoto. Abubakar said “Traditional rulers are always close to the people in all respect, we feel more pain than any other person on the killings of innocent souls in our society”. He added that “we had shouldered our responsibility by informing the appropriate quarters on the killings, especially in the northern parts of the country”. The…
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria has accused the Federal Government of doing very little to put an end to the rising insecurity and the unending killings in the country. The Bishops, who issued a statement during their Second Annual Plenary in Warri, Delta State, said the meeting has daily been inundated with “first-hand and horrifying reports reaching from Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Kano and Kaduna states about the mass slaughter of fellow Nigerians; the burning and sacking of whole villages and churches and rectories”. In the statement titled ‘While Nigeria bleeds and burns’, the CBCN lamented the precarious situation…
Former Gov. Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State and an aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday collected the nomination form for the 2015 governorship election. The aspirant, who paid the mandatory N3 million fees, collected the form at the party secretariat in Ibadan through his Committee of Friends. Razak Gbadegesin, the aspirant’s former Chief of Staff, who collected the form on his behalf, said the committee picked the form because the aspirant went to Abuja for an assignment. “We are here to collect the form on his behalf and it is due to the fact that we believe…
President Goodluck Jonathan has been advised to reject his recent endorsement by the Peoples Democratic Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) as the party’s sole Presidential candidate for the 2015 elections as it may backfire on him. The call is contained in a statement jointly signed by leaders of a coalition of pro-democracy groups under the aegis of National Coalition Against Fraudulent Politicians, who also said that the open letter written to President Jonathan by an Adamawa State PDP governorship aspirant, Dr. Umar Ardo and others calling on the president to shelve his 2015 presidential ambition should be heeded. The leaders…
The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, has urged northern elders and youths to strive to ensure that peace reigned in the region for development to thrive. Maku made the call on Friday in Abuja at the Ministerial Press conference where the Minister of Works, Mr Mike Onolememen, appeared to present the score of the ministry. Citing an example from the presentation of the works minister, Maku said that the Kano-Maiduguri road which should have reached 90 per cent completion, had stopped at 65 per cent completion because of insurgency. He said that while development was stunted in the northern part…
The labour unions in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Petroleum and Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) Workers on Friday resolved to suspend their planned strike, which would have shut down the entire country had it gone on as planned. It was learnt that the planned strike was shelved owing to the intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan, who directed the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke to immediately convene a meeting with the striking oil workers’ unions. The meeting which began in the afternoon, held at the presidential villa. According…
Gov. Ibrahim Dankwambo The governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwambo, has appointed Ibrahim Umar as the new Vice Chancellor of Gombe State University, GSU. Notice of the appointment is contained in a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of the university, Abubakar Sammani, in Gombe on Friday. The statement quoted Mr. Sammani as saying the appointment letter was signed by the Secretary to Gombe State Government, Abubakar Bage. Mr. Umar succeeds Abdullahi Mahdi, who has been the Vice Chancellor of the university since its inception in 2005. Until his appointment, Mr. Umar was the Dean, Faculty of Science and…
Gov. Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State, has sacked eight cabinet members and five other aides. A statement Friday, signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Zainab Abdulmumini, said all affected officials are to hand over to their permanent secretaries on or before Tuesday 23rd September. The affected commissioners are Innocent Lagi, Commissioner for Justice, Angama A. Weibey Commissioner for Rural and Community Development, Muhammad Sani Yakubun- Hauwa, Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology. Others are Danladi Madaki Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources and Adamu Mu’azu Alu Adogi Commissioner, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. The statement…
AMINU TAMBUWAL (R) & NBA PRESIDENT, AUGUSTINE ALEGEH Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, yesterday insisted that Nigeria’s general elections must hold in 2015 despite fears in some quarters over the possibility of conducting peaceful elections amidst the insurgency in some parts of the country. Tambuwal’s statement comes on the heels of controversies generated by the “election is not on the table now” statement credited to Senate President David Mark. “I firmly believe we can go into elections in 2015; elections in 2015 should be held.What we need to do is to address insurgency before the elections…
A non-governmental organisation, Edoni-Iza Freemen Educational Foundation has called on the Federal Government to dedicate a day to be called Gani Fawehinmi Day to give people the opportunity to promote good ideologies and patriotism. The President of the group, Comrade Lucky Isiki, who spoke in Yenagoa on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the death of the late constitutional lawyer said Chief Gani Fawehinmi, was too noble for Nigerians to forget him easily and sweep his ideals under the carpet. He therefore called on the youths of the Niger Delta to imbibe the virtue of the late social crusader…