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Wednesday, 22 April 2015

Buhari backs Jonathan’s appointee, Adesina for AfDB presidency

The President-elect of Nigeria, General Muhammadu Buhari, has requested the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to support the candidacy of Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina as the next president of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

A statement by the Directorate of Media & Publicity, APC Presidential Campaign, Garba Shehu, said General Buhari communicated his backing of Dr. Adesina’s candidacy to the Ghanaian President, John Dramani Mahama, who is the current chairperson of the ECOWAS.

Nigeria's inspector general of police, Suleiman Abba, was fired Tuesday. Pictured: Abba leaves the venue of the investigative hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs on the invasion of the National Assembly by the police in Abuja on Nov. 20, 2014.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has fired the country’s inspector general of police, Suleiman Abba, three weeks after Jonathan lost the national election in the country's recently concluded polls. The outgoing president terminated the official's job Tuesday and named Abba’s deputy, Solomon Arase, the acting head of Nigeria’s police force, Jonathan’s spokesman Reuben Abati said. The political move has raised eyebrows, as Jonathan has only six weeks left in office.

Fearful Immigrants In South Africa Revealed They Had Been Targeted By Long Time Neighbours

Following the attack, fearful immigrants in South Africa revealed they had been targeted by long time neighbours and people who warned they would assault anyone carrying a foreign passport.

The immigrants spoke at a tent camp where they are now living having fled Alexandra when the mobs began attacking shops owned by those from other African countries.

The violence in Alexandra Township followed anti-immigrant riots in and around the coastal city of Durban that killed at least six people, recalling a bout of similar unrest in South Africa in 2008 in which about 60 people died.

Experts Advise Parents To Immunise Children

Two health experts on Tuesday advised parents to immunise their children and wards regularly against preventable diseases to help reduce the rate of infant mortality in the country. The experts gave the advice in separate interviews with newsmen ahead of the 2015 World Immunisation Week.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says: “The World Immunisation Week will be held from April 24 to 30. “It will signal a renewed global, regional and national effort to accelerate action to increase awareness and demand for immunisation by communities, and improve vaccination delivery services.

“This year’s campaign focuses on closing the immunisation gap and reaching equity in immunisation levels as outlined in the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP). “The GVAP is a framework to prevent millions of deaths by 2020 through universal access to vaccines for people in all communities,’’ it said.

Manny Pacquiao will wear the most expensive shorts in history during his $300m fight with Floyd Mayweather on May 2nd at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

£1.5million would be about $2.2million and that’s over N400million. WTH? Is the short made of Lupita Nyong’o’s pearls? Lol

U.S. Vice President, Biden, urges Jonathan to remain global leader

As global commendation continue to pour for President Goodluck Jonathan over his role in recent peaceful elections in Nigeria, U.S. Vice President, Joe Bidden called on Monday to commend for his leadership.

Mr. Bidden, who spoke with President Jonathan, urged him to “remain engaged and play a leadership role in global issues” as his presidency is gradually winding to an end in a month’s time.

President Jonathan pictured with President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, at the State House in Abuja today Tues. April 21. More photos after the cut...

President Goodluck Jonathan has fired Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba.

The sack was announced by the president’s spokesperson, Reuben Abati, in a statement on Tuesday.

No reason was given for the sack.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Mahmud Mohammed has enjoined the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, to run his administration with total respect and obedience to the constitution.

In a keynote address delivered at the opening ceremony of the national workshop for Magistrates on Judicial Ethics and Corrupt Practices, which held at the National Judicial Institute, NJI, yesterday, Justice Mohammed tasked Buhari to focus on weeding out corrupt judges from the bench and ensure that all the funds appropriated to the state judiciary are promptly released to heads of courts, so they can function effectively.

15 killed in fresh Taraba crisis

Suspected Fulani mercenaries, in the early hours of Monday, attacked some villages in the Donga Local Government Area of Taraba State and killed 15 persons. Many, reports said, were still missing.

Following the Monday attack there was massive movement of people from Donga Local Government, which is one of the areas in the state where run-off election was billed to hold next Saturday.

Residents said the assailants first attacked and burnt Ayiase village in Takum Local Government before heading for Tse-Gbaun and Gaza villages in Donga.

One eyewitness told our correspondent that the gunmen killed one Msugh Gaza and three of his sons in Gaza Village, while the three other victims were killed in Tse-Gbaun and Ayiase villages.

The eyewitness said, “The attack happened in the early hours of today (Monday), and the area is not safe as I talk to you, and as such we cannot search for the other missing persons. But we have, so far, recovered seven dead bodies.”

The Police spokesman in the state, Joseph Kwaji, said efforts to reach the DPO of Donga for details of the attacks were unsuccessful as his mobile phone was switched off.

However, an aide of the acting Governor of the state, Alhaji Sani Danladi, said his boss had directed that military personnel be deployed in the area to maintain peace and order.

Youths Protest Xenophobic Attacks, Target South African Companies

If our people can’t live and work there, their businesses should also not operate here. That was the message of the angry Nigerians that stormed the South African High Commission in Abuja, yesterday, threatening to shut down South African companies in Nigeria as xenophobic attacks continue in South Africa.

The Nigerian Consul-General in South Africa, Ambassador Uche Ajulu-Okeke had said that the loss by Nigerians in the attacks included looted shops, burnt shops, two burnt mechanic shops, 11 burnt cars and two stolen cars among others.

Turkey arrests Syria-bound British family

Turkish police arrested a British family in the capital Ankara after being tipped off that they would try to cross the Syrian border to join Islamic State militants, a Turkish official said Tuesday.

“We received the intelligence from British police on April 19 that a British couple with four children may cross into Syria to join ISIS,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, using an alternative name for the terrorist group.

Turkish police found out that the couple had crossed from Greece into Kirklareli in eastern Thrace in the European part of Turkey on April 16.

The man, 33, and the woman, 29, have four children including a baby.

TRIBUTEs continued to pour in yesterday for late Senator Uche Chukwumerije, who died in Abuja, on Sunday.

The latest came from the President, Goodluck Jonathan, his wife, Patience, President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, former Vice President, Abubakar Atiku, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, and a host of others, describing his death as a great loss to the Igbo and Nigeria.

He will be remembered for his passion for a just society — Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan and the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan have extended condolences to the Chukwumerije family as well as the government and people of Abia State on the death of Senator Uche Chukwumerije.

In two separate statements issued by their spokesmen President Jonathan and his wife urged the family to take solace in the fact that Chukwumerije was an ardent believer in national unity, peace, political stability and progress.

“The President joins them in mourning the late patriot and nationalist who has left behind an impressive legacy of discipline, honesty, integrity and hard work in public service.

“President Jonathan believes that the late Senator Chukwumerije, who had a distinguished career as a journalist, social critic, Minister of Information and Senator, will be long remembered for his dedication and passion for a just and equitable society.

In her statement, Dame Patience Jonathan, said: “As a daughter of Abia State, the mother of the Nation, my thoughts are with you and the entire people of Abia at this time of your grief,” she said and praised late Chukwumerije’s dedication, courage and professional conduct as a senator.”

The United States of America said yesterday it would impose visa restrictions on any Nigerian found to have incited violence or interfered with the electoral process.

According to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. will shut its doors on people involved in any form of violence during the polls.

THE moral decadence of Nigeria’s political class is playing out in the ongoing mass defections from the ruling People’s Democratic Party to the victorious opposition All Progressives Congress. No sooner had Muhammadu Buhari of the APC triumphed over President Goodluck Jonathan than the floodgates opened for prominent PDP stalwarts looking perpetually to the spoils of office to jump ship. Buhari and the APC now have a historic mission to break with the prevailing predatory system that has foisted parasitic political elite on the country.

A Federal High Court in Lagos has further reserved ruling till May 27, 2015, on the preliminary objection filed by the founder, Living Faith Church, a.k.a. Winners’ Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, against the N1.86bn claim by a stock brokerage firm.

The firm, Valueline Securities and Investment Limited, and its Managing Director, Samuel Enyinnaya, had sued Oyedepo for alleged breach of contract in a N9bn stock market deal.

The Supreme Court, yesterday, dismissed an appeal that sought to void the primary election of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, that gave Governor Godswill Akpabio the ticket to seek for a re-run in 2011.

‎A five-man panel of Justices of the apex court led by Justice Suleiman Galadima threw-out the matter after it compelled the appellant, Hon. Imo Edet Udo to withdraw the appeal which it said has turned academic.

The appellant had gone before the court to challenge the judgement of the Calabar Division of the Court of Appeal, which had on December 9, 2013, upheld Akpabio’s nomination as the gubernatorial flag-bearer of the PDP in Akwa Ibom state.

Major oil marketers in the country have warned that fuel scarcity, currently experienced in Abuja and other major cities, may linger for a while owing to the federal government’s delay in paying what it owes marketers.

The marketers under the auspices of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) have decried the government’s inability to disburse the outstanding payments due to its members for the import of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) under the Petroleum Subsidy Fund Scheme (the “Scheme”).

Man to man is so unjust, children:

Ya don’t know who to trust.

Your worst enemy could be your best friend,

And your best friend your worse enemy. – Bob Marley

By now most people have heard of the ongoing madness in South Africa where xenophobia is the order of the day and has thus led to the loss of several lives, damage of several properties belonging to other Africans like Somalians, Zimbabweans, Nigerians, etc who are residing in South Africa and protests across the country.

47-Year-Old Father In Court For Defiling (His Own) Daughter

A 47-year-old man, Solomon Ojo, was on Monday arraigned in an Ota Senior Magistrates’ Court, Ogun State for alleged rape of his daughter.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Ojo was charged with one count of rape.

The prosecutor, Sergeant Rosemary Brown, told the court that the accused committed the offence sometime in 2013 at about 12 noon at his residence.

Brown said the accused forcefully had carnal knowledge of his daughter (name withheld).

She said the offence contravened Section 358 of the Criminal Code, Vol. 1, Revised Law of Ogun State, 2006.

The Magistrate, Miss Temitope Adebutu, granted the accused bail in the sum of N200, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

Adebutu said the sureties must have landed property within the court’s jurisdiction and swear to an affidavit of means.

She said, “The sureties should also provide evidence of one year tax payment and submit photocopy of this to the court.”

The magistrate subsequently arraigned the case till June 3, 2015 for hearing.

Cholera kills 30 in Delta

At least 30 people have been killed in the latest cholera outbreak in Isoko South community of Nigeria's oil-rich Delta State, a health official said Monday.

On Sunday, April 19, two unidentified men sneaked into the Surulere Baptist Church, Ojuelegba Road, Lagos State premises and abducted a three-year-old girl, Oluwabunmi Ajelero.

According to reports by Punch, the girl was playing with other children on the church premises at about 1pm when the kidnappers came in through the back of the church and tricked her out with Gala before whisking her away on a motorcycle.

Explosion Rocks Mosque In Yobe, 3 People Injured

A bomb blast from suspected Boko Haram suicide attacker targeted a group of Shiite Muslims and injured three people in Potiskum, Yobe State.

Popular Wazobia FM on-air personality, Steve Onu aka Yaw, has revealed his grass to grace story on his Instagram account.

The actor c*m writer, told his own #MySuperStarStory saying he once sold ice water at Yaba market, did bus conductor once in a while just to survive with a friend called Mutiu.

Read his story below: -

The Federal Government and all 36 state governments in Nigeria are right now suffering from high body temperature caused by a political fever called transition.

Fela used to say that different different fever na him dey; this transition fever also varies from one state to another. The first aspect of it, equivalent to shivering, is caused by the Big Boss and his party’s defeat at the polls. The most severe form of fever occurs where the Boss himself contested for another term of office and lost, as happened at the Federal level and in Kaduna State.

Doyin Okupe, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan, has warned chieftains and supporters of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to desist from insulting the President and his aides.

Okupe noted that it is disheartening that after Jonathan conceded defeat in the interest of the country, the agents of APC are “unrelenting in their tirades of abuses, insults and lies against the president, his aides and supporters”.

He took to his Facebook page to urge the supporters of APC to allow peace reign in the country since elections are over.

Read his post below

President-elect Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) has urged Nigerians not to expect miracles from him when he takeover government on May 29.

Bobby Brown told concert goers Saturday night that his daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown is awake nearly three months after she was found face down and unresponsive in a tub at her Georgia home.
In a video, Brown tells the crowd during a concert appearance at the Verizon Theatre in Dallas, Texas, that "Bobbi is awake," adding that "she is watching me." The crowd screamed after his remark.

According to a TMZ report, a Whitney Houston family source has denied any changes in Bobbi Kristina's condition.

A U.S. aircraft carrier has been dispatched to waters off Yemen to join other American ships prepared to block any Iranian shipments to the Houthi rebels fighting in Yemen.

The U.S. Navy has been beefing up its presence in the Gulf of Aden and the southern Arabian Sea amid reports that a convoy of about eight Iranian ships is heading toward Yemen and possibly carrying arms for the Houthis.

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has paid a tribute to the deceased former Minister of Information, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, who me he described as a classy and exceptional statesman.

President Allassane Quattara of Cote D’voire on Monday said the peaceful manner in which Nigeria’s 2015 general elections were conducted and the way President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat would forever remain a legacy for Africa.

If statements from the president-elect, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, are to be believed, the incoming administration, to be inaugurated on May 29, will hit the ground running. Buhari says he intends to put together a small cabinet that may go into action even before the swearing-in. In a nutshell, he speaks on the shape of things to come in this interview.

There has been an influx of defectors from the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to your party, APC, since after your victory at the polls. Many think the development may destabilise the APC. How do you intend to manage the situation?

‘Buharian traveler’ gets hero’s welcome after arriving Abuja on foot (PHOTOS)

Hasheem Suleiman, the 33-year-old man who set out on a foot journey from Lagos has finally arrived his destination, in Abuja.

Suleiman embarked on the walk to commemorate the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as President of Nigeria.

He made a vow to trek from Lagos to Abuja if Buhari wins the presidential election.

When arrived at Abuja, he was accorded a hero’s welcome by hundreds of people who came out to celebrate his feat.

See photos below:

An Ijaw group, under the umbrella of the Ijaw People’s Development Initiative, IPDI, in Delta State, weekend, begged President Goodluck Jonathan to grant presidential pardon to the former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori, before he hands over power on May 29.
National President the group, Mr. Austin Ozobo, in an interactive session with newsmen, said: “Chief Ibori has suffered enough and there is no justification for not granting him clemency, as had been done to others.”

The senator representing Rivers South East senatorial district in the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Abe has denied an allegation by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that he induced pastors and traditional rulers in Ogoni to petition the State Election Tribunal.

The PDP, had in a statement issued in Port Harcourt by its state chairman, Chief Felix Obuah, alleged that the senator was offering some pastors and chiefs of Ogoni huge sums of money as an inducement to petition to the State Election Tribunal that no elections took place in Ogoniland.

The President of the National Consolidation Group (NCG), Hon. Ajon Ugboho, has called on the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, to resign over the party’s disappointing performance in the 2015 general elections.

He told Leadership Newspaper that Mu’azu had never shown commitment to the success of the party and was involved in shoddy deals with the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund have appointed Thomas Tuchel as coach from next season.

Tuchel, 41, has signed a three-year contract from July 1, the club said on Sunday.

Former Mainz coach Tuchel, who is on sabbatical until his contract with Mainz officially ends at the end of June, will succeed Juergen Klopp.

Mr. Shehu Garba, director of media and communication for the All Progressives Congress Congress, APC, Campaign Organisation, has condemned the composition of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transition Committee.

He said the team is made of untrustworthy people who represent the ‘worst of our prejudices.’

His words: “The President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has earned an incredibly high amount of goodwill following his acceptance of the outcome of the election, which itself had the effect of de-escalating tensions not just among Nigerians but all over the continent.

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc recorded double-digit growths in the top-line and bottom-line in the first quarter, a strong start that triggered a rally on the share price of the stock at the weekend.

Key extracts of the unaudited report and accounts of GTBank for the period ended March 31, 2015, showed that gross earnings and pre-tax profit rose by 17 per cent each. After tax, net profit rose by 15 per cent.

An aid of the Alafin of Oyo, Aare Ayandotun Ayalakin, has liken the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the late Yoruba leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, adding that he, Tinubu, had attained the towering political heights similar to that of the late sage with the victory of APC in the 2015 general elections.

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Wednesday, 22 April 2015

Tuesday, 21 April 2015

Monday, 20 April 2015