The lawmaker representing Alimosho constituency (1) in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Bisi Yusuf, has described current attempts to create additional states in the country as unnecessary and a waste of scarce resources. Yusuf, who made his position known on the subject matter while speaking to Assembly correspondents yesterday, said that many of the already existing states are not viable and can barely stand alone without depending on allocations from the centre. The lawmaker was reacting to the recent approval for the creation of more states by delegates at the ongoing National Conference. Delegates gave approval for the creation…
Author: Wale Adebayo
Edo House OF Assembly COMPLEX GUARDED BY SECURITY OPERATIVES No fewer than 50 combat-ready policemen drawn from the Police Mobile Force unit of the Nigeria Police, on Friday stormed the Edo State House of Assembly in commando style to stop on-going renovation at the Assembly. As a result, there was apprehension around the Anthony Enahoro Complex of the Assembly at Ring Road, Benin City, as people gathered to watch policemen barking orders to construction workers on the roof top removing roofing sheets of the Assembly to come down. The Assembly complex is currently undergoing renovation following alleged vandalism of the…
Governor of Lagos, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), has described Friday’s action by soldiers of the Nigerian Army, who went on rampage destroying BRT vehicles in sight over the alleged killing of one of their colleagues, as very disappointing. A BRT vehicle had allegedly run down and killed an army corporal on his motorcycle yesterday around the Obanikoro area of the state. The action reportedly led angry soldiers to unleash mayhem by vandalizing and set BRT vehicles ablaze. The army authorities have since denied the involvement of soldiers in the ugly incident, blaming the violence on miscreants, who took advantage…
CREDIT: PREMIUM TIMES The Nigerian Army has denied the involvement of soldiers in the mayhem unleashed on BRT buses in the Obanikoro area of Lagos State. Instead, it blamed street urchins for taking advantage of the accident involving a soldier, who was allegedly knocked down by a BRT bus. The army authorities, in a statement issued by the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Lt. Col. Abraham Ochagwuba, claimed that a BRT bus knocked down and killed a soldier – an army corporal – on Friday morning around Obanikoro. The bus driver reportedly took the soldier’s body into the bus and…
Senator HOPE UZODINMA Senator Hope Ozodinma (PDP, Imo), has explained that the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja was shut to allow for maintenance of the runway. Uzodinma, who is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, said this while fielding questions from State House Correspondents after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan. According to him, the airport, which will be closed from midnight on Saturday to 6 a.m. on Monday, is to allow construction giant, Julius Berger, fix the pot holes noticed on the runway. “This was done for obvious safety reasons. We have some potholes that are already seen…
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has rescheduled the second phase of its distribution of Permanent Voters Cards and Continuous Voter Registration in 12 states. In a statement by INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega’s Chief Press Secretary, Kayode Robert Idowu, the PVCs would now be distributed at the polling unit level in the affected states from Friday, August 15, 2014 to Sunday, August 17, 2014; instead of July 18 to July 20 as was earlier scheduled. Following the conclusion of polling unit level distribution, unclaimed PVCs would be taken to respective local government offices of the Commission for subsequent distribution.…
FRED AGBAJE A Lagos-based lawyer and rights activist, Mr. Fred Agbaje, has said that the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is no longer a force to reckon with in the politics of the South-West geo-political zone. Agbaje premised his argument on the loss of Ekiti State governorship election by the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. According to him, the era of taking voters for granted and imposing candidates on them had gone and that if care was not taken, the APC would also lose to the opposition in the states controlled by the…
The South-West caucus of the All Progressives Congress, APC, held a meeting during the week in Ibadan, Oyo State, with a view to taking steps on how to move the party forward, in light of the party’s poor showing in the Ekiti State governorship election, where the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, emerged victorious. The meeting, which was attended by the National-Vice Chairman of the APC, Pius Akinyelure, and Deputy National Chairman (South), Segun Oni, x-rayed the events surrounding the Ekiti election and concluded that the poll was far from being free and fair. In a communiqué issued after the meeting,…
The LAGBUS Asset Management Ltd., operators of LAGBUS, on Friday withdrew its buses from the roads following the burning of some of its buses by aggrieved persons. Mr. Abiodun Apata, Project Manager, Mutual Model Transports, one of the LAGBUS Franchises, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos. The buses were allegedly attacked by soldiers, who were protesting the killing of an army corporal. The corporal, belonging to the Nigerian Army of Education was allegedly hit by a BRT vehicle while he was riding a motorbike near the Palmgrove Bus Stop on the Ikorodu Road, Lagos. Apata…
The Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba Erediauwa, has distanced himself from the action of his son, who reportedly resigned and defected to the Peoples Democratic Party from the All Progressives Congress. The revered traditional ruler made this known in a statement in Benin, the Edo State capital on Friday. According to the statement, the Oba, who expressed shock that his son, Prince Osama Erediauwa, resigned his appointment as Executive Director in the Office of the Governor, said his (Erediauwa) action did not represent his opinion as the Oba. The statement read, “The Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba of Benin, has…
A CROSS-SECTION OF DISTRAUGHT PARENTS OF Chibok School GIRLS 81 days after their children were abducted in the dead of the night by Boko Haram insurgents, seven parents of the abducted girls of the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, have reportedly died of trauma. The National Chairman of Chibok community under the Kibaku Area Development Association, KADA, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, stated this yesterday at a news conference in Abuja. He also said Chibok community had lost 229 people in 15 attacks by the Boko Haram sect. In light of the above, the community urged the Federal Government to negotiate…
Press Release The South East Governors’ Forum has commended delegates at the ongoing constitutional conference in Abuja for their unanimous recommendation that an additional state be created for the zone to bring it at par with other geo-political zones of the country. The Chairman of the forum and Abia State Governor, Chief Theodore Orji, in a press statement made available to newsmen in Umuahia, saluted the courage of the delegates in adopting the recommendation which he added, is a major step towards ending decades of political injustice and marginalization against Ndigbo. The statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Charles Ajunwa, also commended the confab for…
The Acting Chief Judge of Adamawa State, Ambrose Mammadi, has instituted a seven-member panel committee to investigate allegations of gross misconduct levelled against the state Governor, Murtala Nyako and his deputy, Bala Ngilari, by the State House of Assembly. In a statement issued on Friday and signed by the Chief Registrar of the Court, Abubakar Bayola, the acting chief judge stated that in line with his constitutional responsibility, he has constituted the committee as demanded by the lawmakers. The statement read in part: “The Hon. Acting Chief Judge Hon. Justice Ambrose D. Mammadi by the powers vested in him under Section…
Abia State Governor, Theodore Orji, has declared that he has no regrets for his continued support for President Goodluck Jonathan, saying his support is not cosmetic but total. Speaking on Friday in Umuahia, the state capital, when he received in audience the South East delegation of ‘Goodluck Support Groups’, Orji also urged President Jonathan to declare his intention to seek re- election in 2015. He said, “My support for Jonathan is total and not cosmetic, and we want him to make known his intention to run in 2015 because we will replicate the total support we gave him in 2011.…
The governor-elect of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has distributed no fewer than 14,500 branded 5kg bags of rice to Muslims across the state. Fayose, who distributed some of the rice at Ado Ekiti Central Mosque and Ansarudeen Central Mosque, said the gesture was in the spirit of Ramadan. The Deputy governor-elect, Dr. Olusola Eleka, who spoke on behalf of Fayose, said the bags of rice would be distributed simultaneously across the 16 local government areas in the state. Elega said, “You know the Governor-elect is a man of the people and he so much has the love of the…
The Federal Government has reduced the number of companies licensed to import gasoline in the third quarter to 27 from 40 in the previous three months, according to regional industry sources. According to Reuters, the 27 companies were allocated gasoline import rights by Nigeria’s downstream regulator Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Authority (PPPRA), lists showed. These companies are expected to import around 1.7 million tonnes for third quarter, down from 1.85 million tonnes in the second quarter. Although market sources expect some winners will be unable to import owing to financing obstacles – some are still waiting for a backlog of…
At least 15 passengers, including motorists were killed when some gunmen suspected to be members of dreaded Boko Haram terrorists laid ambush along Maiduguri -Mafa- Dikwa Road yesterday at about 2:30pm. Mafa is about 45 kilometres East, while Dikwa is about 70 kilometres drive from Maiduguri that had suffered series of deadly attacks by terrorists in recent times. The attack on passengers and motorists on this road is the latest by the terror sect Boko Haram, even as the Maiduguri- Damboa -Biu, and Maiduguri- Bama -Gwoza roads have remained a death trap with no security effort to stop the carnage…
Three suspected female terrorists who have been secretly recruiting ladies into the female wing of terrorists group, Boko Haram have been arrested by the Nigerian militry, following a failed suicide bombing attempt by a female terrorist recently in Gombe. The Army disclosed this in a statement signed by the Deputy Director of Defence Information (DDDI), Col. Onyema Nwachukwu and released on Friday. According to Nwachukwu, the suspects, Hafsat Usman Bako, Zainab Idris and Aisha Abubakar were intercepted on their way to Madagali, Adamawa state, from where they were to transit to the forest to reunite with their cohorts. He said…
Controversial Nigerian actress Afrocandy, also called the “queen of P0*n”, is reportedly back to her home country. Judith Mazagwu, the mother of 2, has been recently mentioned in the news in connection with the money issue. The curvaceous star was said to be begging for money to pay for her daughter’s tuition fee in college. It was mentioned later that Afrocandy had received the required financial support from some celebrities, Denrele being among them. Since that not much has been heard about the actress, until today… Afrocandy, who used to live in the United State of America, has taken to social…
Rapper Ice Prince’s son, Jamal, follows his father’s steps as he made appearance in his first music video. The young son of Nigerian superstar was a part of Ruby Gyang’s music video called ‘Good man’ filmed by Loppy Records. The two-year-old hangs with his father and recognizes the camera – pointing to the viewers. Did someone say cute?!