Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, on Wednesday stated that he was not above the law of the land and not “averse to security checks” in his first reaction to the incident on Monday in Kaduna where soldiers subjected his official vehicle to security checks. He spoke in Abuja even as the House ordered an investigation into the incident. Recall that soldiers had stopped Tambuwal and insisted on searching his car as his motorcade made to drive into Hotel 17, the venue of an international conference on security in Africa. After a brief verbal exchange between his…
Author: Wale Adebayo
Edo HOUSE OF Assembly SPEAKER, UYI IGBE, BEING FRISKED BEFORE ENTRY INTO THE COMPLEX All Progressives Congress (APC) legislators in Edo House of Assembly have accused the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Muhammed Abubakar, of aiding the four suspended lawmakers in the house to perpetuate illegality. Mr Kabiru Adjoto, the Chairman, Committee on Information, who spoke on behalf of the legislators, said this on Wednesday in Benin while addressing newsmen outside the assembly complex. The assembly had been in crisis since June 9, following the suspension of four lawmakers, including the Deputy Speaker, Festus Ebea (APC Esan North-East). The three others are…
The Kogi State government has warned land speculators and developers to steer clear of the area where it is constructing the 16km Otokiti-Ganaja road. Governor Idris Wada, who gave the warning yesterday while inspecting the level of progress on the road, advised developers in the area to stop further activities on their plots. Represented by his deputy, Arc. Yomi Awoniyi, Gov. Wada said plots of land on both sides of the road have been acquired by the government for the development of a new town/settlement, advising members of the public to beware of land speculators who may want to sell to…
Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents have attacked a military post at Bulabulin Ngaura in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State, killing about 16 soldiers. One of the soldiers that narrowly escaped the attack, who confirmed the incident to journalists in Maiduguri, the state capital yesterday, said, “We were totally subdued by the insurgents”. The soldier, who recounted what happened amid sobbing, lamented that “some of my colleagues were abducted and many others escaped with bullet wounds. Dozens of Boko Haram insurgents stormed our checkpoint at Bulabulin on Tuesday night. “The terrorists came in a convoy of over 30…
The Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasaq Fadipe, has said last night’s twin explosions at the entrance to the Folawiyo tank farm and the other inside the facility located on Creek road, Apapa, was a gas explosion and not a suicide bombing as claimed by some eyewitnesses. The explosion, which affected four buildings including two banks, reportedly occurred at about 8:30p.m. Eyewitnesses said a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a petrol tanker, which resulted in the explosion. But Mr. Fadipe, who debunked the eyewitness accounts, said: “Suicide bomber? That is not the information I have. We were told…
CREDITS: VANGUARD The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State branch, has alleged that no fewer than 100 people have so far been killed in the attacks on villages in Sanga Local Government Area of the state by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen. The allegation by CAN came on the heels of the announcement by the State Police command that they had arrested three of the suspected attackers and recovered three AK47 riffles and 158 rounds of ammunition. The CAN’s Secretary in the state, Rev. Sunday Ibrahim, who spoke at a press conference on Wednesday, claimed that information available…
The Coordinator, National Information Centre, Mr Mike Omeri, said on Wednesday that soldiers killed one of the suspected bombers of EMAB Plaza in Abuja and arrested another. Omeri told newsmen in Abuja that the attackers came on a power bike and planted an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) by the entrance of the shopping mall. He also confirmed the death of 21 persons and 17 others injured in the blast which also damaged several vehicles. NAN gathered that the suspects, who attempted to flee the scene of the incident, were shot and arrested by personnel of the Guards Brigade on patrol duty…
Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has described the outcome of last Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State won by Mr Peter Ayodele Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as a positive development and an indication that democracy is on course in the country. Ahmed, who made this known in a congratulatory message to the governor-elect of Ekiti State, Mr Fayose, noted that the fact that the election went peacefully and an incumbent was defeated, showed that Nigerians cherish democracy, especially when the atmosphere is conducive. The governor advised the political class to imbibe an enduring lesson of the…
A former Senator on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, Bode Ola, has said the party (now All Progressives Congress) cannot defeat the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the 2015 general elections. He cited the defeat suffered by the party’s candidate in the just concluded Ekiti governorship poll, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, despite the advantage of incumbency, in the hands of the PDP candidate, Mr. Ayo Fayose, as a sign of the weakness of the party in the country. Speaking to a group of journalists in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday, Ola, who is now a member of the PDP,…
The Senate, on Wednesday, urged the Federal Government to name the secretariat of the Hydro Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC) after late Sen. Dahiru Kuta. The Senate also resolved to send a delegation to condole with the family of the deceased, the people and government of Niger. The resolution followed the motion on the death of Sen. Kuta at a special valedictory session on Wednesday led by the Senate Leader, Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba. At the occasion, many senators paid tributes to the memory of their late colleague. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Kuta sponsored the HYPPADEC…
FROM LEFT: EWI OF ADO-EKITI, OBA RUFUS ADEJUYIGBE; PDP GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE FOR EKITI, MR AYO FAYOSE AND President GOODLUCK JONATHAN, AT THE OBA’S PALACE DURING THE GRAND FINAL OF Ekiti PDP GUBERNATORAL CANDIDATE’S RALLY IN ADO-Ekiti. Governor- elect of Ekiti Stat, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has attributed his victory at last Saturday’s governorship election to the insistence of President Goodluck Jonathan on conduct of party primary to choose the governorship candidate of the party. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship primary was the most contested as over 10 aspirants jostled for the sole ticket but in the end, Fayose emerged winner…
President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday said that the menace of the Boko Haram sect whose members have been unleashing violence is some parts of the North, was worse than the country’s civil war. He said while enemies and their territories during the civil war could be easily identified, enemies in the case of the Boko Haram sect, live among the people, thereby making it difficult to identify them. The president spoke when he granted audience to a delegation of the College of Bishops of African Church led by the Primate, Most Rev. Emmanuel Udofia, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He,…
The Nigerian Air Force on Wednesday expressed readiness to produce coded uniform for its personnel to check the fake military uniform used by criminals. The Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, made this known when he inaugurated the Military Wears and Accouterment Factory in Kaduna. Amosu said the factory would reduce the indiscriminate use of military camouflage. “The uniform materials you are seeing have underground coding and when we apply certain liquid, we know what we expect to see. “If you bring a uniform that look like a camouflage, we have a way we can test and…
Nigeria remains one of the top three destinations for Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, in Africa, despite the country’s security challenges, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said. According to the UNCTAD report released last night, FDI inflows into Africa rose by four percent to $57 billion, with Nigeria’s inflow standing at N5.6 billion in 2013. Only seven countries in Africa went above the $3 billion FDI inflow point, they are Nigeria, South Africa, Mozambique, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana and Sudan. Meanwhile, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) yesterday in Vienna, said it would establish an Investment…
Two herbalists were weekend arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command. Two Islamic clerics, who specialised in buying and selling of human body parts were also arrested. The suspects, identified as Wasiu Oyebamiji, Ogunshola Olakunle Afolabi, Akorede Wasiu and Rasheed Opeyemi, were apprehended in various parts of Ogun and Lagos states, it was gathered. Sources at the state Police Command headquarters, Ikeja, disclosed to Vanguard that the Police deployed a team of undercover operatives to track down one of the suspects, Afolabi, said to be a specialist in sourcing human parts from road accident…
The landlord of The Lord’s Chosen Church, New Nyanya, Abuja, Mr Kola Sunmonu has dragged the church before a Mararaba chief magistrate’s court for allegedly failing to pay rent. Counsel to the plaintiff, Mr Raphael Nnabuike, told the court that the defendant was supposed to renew the rent annually but had failed to do so. Nnabuike also said the plaintiff had let part of his plot of land, measuring 100ft by 100ft at New Nyanya, to the defendant at the rate of N35,000 each year, but after paying the initial rent of N35,000 on July 3, 2012, the church had…
A former governor of Ogun and stalwart of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Segun Osoba, on Wednesday assured that the ongoing National Conference would not disappoint the expectations of Nigerians. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Osoba made the statement against the backdrop of speculations in some quarters that the conference might not take the nation anywhere. Speaking with newsmen in Lagos, Osoba said that achieving success at the conference could be tough but that at the end, “God will guide the delegates to do what is right. “There will be fights, we may even walk out…
The no-love lost relationship between the Presidency and the Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State has taken a further blow following the allegation by a member of the House of Representatives, Andrew Uchendu that there are plans to kill the governor. Uchendu, who represents Ikwere/Emoha Federal Constituency, said the series of attacks on Amaechi in recent times were part of a well-orchestrated plot by agents of the Federal Government to kill the governor. Addressing newsmen at the National Assembly complex, the lawmaker, in a speech entitled “Before Chibuike Amaechi dies”, pleaded with Nigerians to prevail on agents of government…
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Tuesday pledged to repeat the feat it recorded in last Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State in future elections. INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, who stated this in Abuja at a meeting with the leaderships of the 26 registered political parties, said the experience in Ekiti election would be improved upon specifically in both the August 17 governorship election in Osun State and the 2015 general elections. The meeting, which took place at INEC Headquarters in Abuja, was attended by chairmen and secretaries of the political parties. The stakeholder’s meeting was part of…
At least four persons were Wednesday night killed at Folawiyo Energy along Creek Road, Apapa, Lagos, after some persons allegedly set bomb on the tank farm. An eye-witness, according to reports, said the explosion came from a Benz car parked right beside a LPG tanker. Four buildings, including two banks were said to have been affected by the blasts. The incident which occurred at about 8.30pm caused a lot of panic as workers and residents around the busy area took to their heels. The extent of damage caused by the explosion cannot be immediately ascertained. Details later