The National Planning Minister during Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Abubakar Sulaiman, has dismissed the claim by Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai that the past administration spent N64 billion on three independence anniversaries. According to the former minister, only N333 million was spent on the anniversaries from 2012-2014. In a statement on Sunday, Sulaiman described the claim by El-Rufai on his facebook wall on October 1, 2015, as “tissue of lies”. “We would have allowed this to go as just ranting of a favour seeker, but for the sake of ordinary Nigerians who were abreast of happenings under the administration and also those…
Author: Wale Adebayo
The U.K National Crime Agency has revealed that contrary to speculations, the corruption investigation leading to the arrest of Nigeria’s former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke started in 2013. The news of Alison-Madueke’s investigation and arrest by the NCA on Friday was attributed to President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent meeting with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, and other world leaders. The ex-minister and four others were arrested by the NCA’s recently formed International Corruption Unit in London, as part of an investigation into suspected bribery and money laundering offences. Alison-Madueke was, however, granted bail while unconfirmed reports say…
Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly has lampooned students in the country for losing their voice against the socio-economic and moral decadence in the country. He observed that the society ills has replicated itself on campuses. Bakare said this at the first National Students’ Summit organised by the Campus Life Project, the National Association of Nigerian Students and the Reach Out Integrated in Lagos on Saturday. The lawyer-turned cleric spoke on ‘Campus Life Decay: What Went Wrong?’ The Convener of the Save Nigeria Group blasted NANS for endorsing the botched third term agenda of former President Olusegun Obasanjo…
The Nigerian Army said on Sunday that no amount of distractions would deter it from ending terrorism in Nigeria by December. Theater Commander, Operation “Lafiya Dole”, Maj.-Gen. Yushau Abubakar, gave this assurance while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria in Maiduguri. Abubakar was reacting to recent spate of suicide bombings by suspected insurgents in some parts of the country. He pointed out that the bombings were aimed at diverting the attention of the military from achieving its target in the ongoing anti-terrorism war. “I want to assure all that for every second that passes, we get more committed to…
The 7 Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri on Sunday said the early morning explosion in the outskirt of Maiduguri, Borno State, emanated from routine testing of military equipment. Speaking to newsmen on Sunday, spokesman for the Division, Col. Tukur Gusau, urged residents not to panic. “It is a routine test firing of our weapons to ensure that they are in a state of readiness”, Gusau said.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received 197 Nigerians who escaped from the conflict in Central African Republic (CAR) in Yola, Adamawa State. The Director, Search and Rescue, NEMA, Air Commander Charles Otegbade, welcomed the returnees, yesterday, at the Yola International Airport. Public Relations Officer of NEMA, Mr. Manzo Ezekiel, confirmed to Thisday that the returnees were mostly from Adamawa, Borno and Gombe states. Ezekiel said others were from Yobe, Taraba, Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Plateau and Anambra states. The returnees “are Nigerians that crossed over from CAR to Cameroun at the peak of the CAR…
Bonny Kingdom in Rivers State will receive N3 billion annually from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Limited under a new agreement signed between the company and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) which transfers responsibility of driving sustainable community development from the corporate organisations to the community. As part of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed yesterday with Grand Bonny Kingdom in Rivers State, NLNG would make the money available through the Bonny Kingdom Development Foundation (BKDF). The MoU sets the terms for the establishment of BKDF that will manage all the community developmental activities, supervise initiatives by NLNG and…
President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) has directed security agencies to mount surveillance across the country following successive terror attacks over the past few days in Borno State and Abuja. The President gave the order after he received a briefing from a fact-finding team he had sent to the areas of the Federal Capital Territory which came under terrorist bombings on Friday evening. A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, quoted the president as directing the security services to raise surveillance activities and the general public to remain acutely aware of security in…
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), yesterday, described as reckless a statement by the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, on the recent kidnap of former Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF), Chief Olu Falae, by Fulani herdsmen. The ACF said that the Afenifere statement demanding the abolishment of nomadic cattle rearing, and criminalizing the Fulani on account of the action of a few, was out of place. “Nigeria has over 250 tribes and Yoruba is just one of them. For it to threaten other tribes just because of an alleged crime of some suspected herdsmen is unnecessary, emotional and contrary to the…
Alhaji Mubashiru Abiola, the younger brother of late businessman and politician, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola is dead. He died around 9:30pm on Friday after months of battling with an unnamed ailment. He had since been buried according to Islamic rites at the family house at Gaa Sabo in Lafenwa area of Abeokuta beside his two late wives. The Chief Imam of Gbagura, Prof. Kamaldeen Balogun, who conducted the Islamic funeral rite, said death was an inevitable fate that would befall every mortal. He urged people to take cognisance of inevitability of death and live as if they would…
Indications have emerged that a former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke, arrested and released in the United Kingdom, on Friday, on money laundering allegations, may be charged to court, this week. Vanguard reports that the trial is expected to be conducted in London and is likely to draw thousands of Nigerians resident in the United Kingdom (UK) but no date was specified, last night, when the paper made contacts with the National Crime Agency (NCA), which arrested and released Diezani and four others on Friday. Although the NCA is yet to reveal the identities of the suspect, an official of the…
President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB), the Sultan of Sokoto, Saád Abubakar, and a Maiduguri-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ibrahim Saleh have been listed among the world’s 50 most influential Muslim leaders. President Buhari was Number 20 on the list, while the Sultan and Sheikh Saleh are listed as numbers 24 and 38 respectively. This was contained in ‘The Muslim 500’, an annual publication of the World’s 500 most influential Muslims. According to the publication, there are 1.7 billion Muslims in the world today, making up approximately 23% of the world’s population. The publication measured influence some Muslims have on other Muslims to…
The Nigerian Army has banned the wearing of unauthorized Army uniforms, accoutrement and kits by former students aka Ex-Boys of the Nigerian Military School Zaria in civil institutions. The illegal practice of wearing Nigerian Army uniforms and kits by Ex-Boys apart from obvious security implications, impacts negatively on the image of Nigerian Army. A statement signed by the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Col Sani Kukasheka Usman yesterday, says, “It is pertinent to reiterate that wearing of military uniforms or kits on campus by anyone is absolutely unlawful” adding “More worrisome, is the fact that most of the offenders…
Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara has condemned Friday`s bomb attacks in Kuje and Nyanya areas of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and urged Nigerians not to cave in to terror. In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Turaki Hassan, the Speaker described the attacks as “callous and saddening”. The statement called for increased intelligence sharing between security agencies in order to fight terrorism. “With the success being recorded by the military in the North East, it has become apparent that insurgency is facing imminent defeat after six years of terror…
The United States Government has condemned Friday night’s bomb blasts in Abuja, the Nigerian capital. The American Embassy in Abuja in a statement by its spokesman, Sean McIntosh, said the U.S. government strongly condemned the multiple explosions in the Nyanya and Kuje areas of the Federal Capital Territory on October 2, as well as the suicide bombings and militant attacks in Maiduguri and Adamawa on October 1, Nigeria’s independence anniversary. “We extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed and injured”, the statement said. “These tragic events are stark reminders that violent extremists will stop…
Residents living near Alao dam, the only source of Borno State capital, Maiduguri’s drinking water, have raised alarm that Boko Haram insurgents are trying to break the dam. The dam, which is critical to the survival of the northeastern city of Maiduguri, is located along Maiduguri-Bama road after University of Maiduguri in konduga LGA. Daily Trust reports that the dam was once broken in 1994 due to weak embankment, which resulted in over half of Maiduguri, including Shehuri, the palace area, flooded.
The Niger State Government says it will use the services of the anti-graft agencies to recover public funds misappropriated in the state. Dr. Ibrahim Dooba, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Abubakar Bello, stated this on Saturday in Minna while reacting to the poor financial status of the state. He said setting up a commission of inquiry would amount to time-wasting and unnecessary waste of public resources which, in the long run, might not achieve the desired result. Dooba spoke in reaction to the position of the state House of Assembly which asked the Executive Arm of government to institute a…
Popular singer and entertainer, D’banj has said that even before iconic songster, 2Face Idibia pleaded with him and his former partner, Don Jazzy to come back together and give fans one more hit, they already had something like that planned. I believe that with 2Face saying it that day, it represents the voice of the people. You have to also know that since it’s my 10th year anniversary, it’s also Don Jazzy’s 10th year as well. Don Jazzy is my brother now when it comes to endorsement as Diageo endorsed him too. We can even go on a tour together; what do…
Yoruba actress and single mother of two, Ade Adunni said she is very much open to love.She disclosed that she loves to the last and can do anything humanly possible to make her relationship work. “I’m a sucker for love, I love hard, that’s why I take my time before diving into any relationship with the person I will love, Adunni said. “I will do whatever I can, humanly, in a relationship to make it work because I just don’t get involved with people any how. If the chemistry or connection is not there, then you would never find me there.…
A Federal Government committee with the mandate to work out modalities to restore the national airline has submitted its report raising hope that the country may have a new national carrier soon. Submitting its report at the Ministry of Aviation, Chairman of the committee, Capt. Abdulsalami Mohammed, said that the committee had wide consultations and received a number of memoranda in the course of its sittings. “The creation of the committee on the establishment of a national carrier has generated a lot of excitement and comments both in the print and electronic media as well as in social media networks…