OBLONG MEDIA GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE is where independent minds meet to dissect politics, society, power, and global affairs without fear or filters. This is not mainstream media.
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Power generation and supply in the South Eastern part of the country has received a boost with the resolution of the dispute between two major stakeholders from the region. Minister of Power, Works and Housing Mr. Babatunde Fashola, on Thursday presided at the signing of agreements between the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) and Aba Power Limited to end a three – year dispute that had stalled the completion of a 141 MW Power Project for the area. Speaking after witnessing the signing of the agreements between Aba Power Limited and Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc and Interstate Electricity…
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The Federal Government on Saturday recommenced the payment of subsidy on petrol as it subsidised the commodity by N5.84 for every litre of premium motor spirit consumed in Nigeria. Subsidy on petrol was stopped in January after the review of the pricing template of the product by the government. It also announced that the current official pump prices of petrol would remain at N86 per litre when purchased at filling stations run by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and N86.5 per litre when sold at outlets operated by other oil marketers. The government further said petrol scarcity would end…
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The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is withholding billions of dollars in revenue from the government’s coffers despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s war on corruption, according to a report published Thursday by the Natural Resource Governance Institute, a New York-based watchdog. Under Buhari’s administration, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) failed to remit $4.2 billion — 66 percent of proceeds — to the treasury in the second half of last year, the report revealed. The company, aka NNPC, raked in $6.3 billion from its crude oil sales in the second half of 2015, but only $2.1 billion entered the…
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Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has described the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, as a threat to democracy, free and fair elections devoid of violence. Part 1 He was reacting to comments made by Wike in an interview published in a national daily in which the governor said Amaechi and his All Progressives Party (APC) lost election in Ikwerre Local Government, which is Amaechi’s homestead. Part 2 Amaechi who is the immediate past governor of the state said the governor lied on the outcome of the re-run elections in Ikwerre Local Government adding that elections…
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President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Dakuku Peterside, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 governorship in Rivers, as director-general of Nigerian Maritime administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). NIMASA is under the supervision of the ministry of transport, which is headed by Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers state who spearheaded Peterside’s electioneering campaign. Yetunde Sonaike, director of public relations in the ministry of transportation, confirmed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday. She said the appointment was with immediate effect. The statement said Peterside holds a doctorate degree in Management Science from…
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Britain’s first black female High Court judge opens up about racism at the bar Clerks would Tippex out her name on briefs and write in the name of male pupil they wanted to be the tenant The country’s first female ethnic minority lawyer to become a High Court judge has shared her story in a tell-all interview, and it makes for shocking viewing. Dame Linda Dobbs has exposed shameful incidents of racism and sexism at the bar, particularly from her own clerks, in a revealing interview for the First 100 Years project — an ambitious video history which aims…
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Biafra, dominated by the great Igbo race, enjoyed sovereignty before Great Britain commenced exploitive colonial rule over Nigeria under the racist banner of Rudyard Kipling’s “the White Man’ burden.” Britain asserted authority over Biafra based on the tyrannical doctrine that the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. The Berlin West Africa Conference, 1884-85, and the Berlin General Act symbolized colonial lawlessness by treating Africa as a carcass to be divided up among European vultures. Restoration of Biafra’s sovereignty is justified under international law and practice—especially with the ongoing ethnic-inspired killings and persecutions of…
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Businessman and former Governor of Abia State has challenged the governments of the United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany and other developed nations to support the anti- corruption war of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration by exposing Nigerians who have looted the nation’s resources, adding that previous administrations paid lip-service to the war against corruption. According to the former governor, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which was established by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003 to prevent, investigate, prosecute and penalize economic and financial crimes, became an instrument of political witch-hunt and victimization, noting that the pioneer…
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Ladies and Gentlemen I am here to share with you this vital information on Prostate. The topic is misleading. Is prostate strictly for men? Yes, ONLY men have prostate and ONLY men over 40years, but the healthcare enlightenment is for everyone. There is no woman who does not know a man 40 years and above – father, uncle, brother, son, friend, neighbor, colleague … Essentially what I will be doing today is health promotion. Responsible health promotion must provide three things: 1. Information 2. Reassurance 3. A plan of action. Let me start with a background on prostate health.…
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The crisis in the Bayelsa state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), took another twist Saturday, with the state executive of the party announcing the suspension of a former governor of the state, Chief Timipre Sylva from the party. State chairman of the party, Timipa Tiwei Orunimighe and the secretary, Daniel Marlin announced the decision of the party in a statement made available to Vanguard in Abuja
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Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has pulled out of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Switzerland to tackle nationwide fuel shortages. Petrol stations in most major cities closed temporarily last week, and drivers elsewhere face huge queues. Ministers blame a huge spike in demand for the shortage, but critics say it was caused by government incompetence. Mr Sharif held a crisis meeting earlier and promised to punish those causing the problems. It is the second year running that the prime minister has pulled out of the WEF in Davos. Last year he was forced to cancel the trip…
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An aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Edo State, Osaro Onaiwu, has ended a tour he embarked upon to reconcile aggrieved members of the main opposition party in the state. Onaiwu, whose reconciliation train has so far visited PDP Secretariats in 16 local government areas, in the state, pointed out that the tour was aimed at reconciling aggrieved party members as a result of the aftermath of the state congresses. Onaiwu during the reconciliation tour Speaking during a meeting at the PDP Secretariat in Orhionwon LGA, Onaiwu said “I believe there…
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Economists are reveling in the IGRs of Lagos and Enugu states whereas Human Development Index (HDI) and Income per head remain abysmally low in same states. In same states household incomes remain poor, primary schools are poorly maintained, health centers are not well tended to; sanitation and housing are in squalor state whereas rural areas remain abandoned in socio-economic irrelevance. The biggest problem of the economist is that they appear only interested in figures and coefficients of government earnings. Beware of them! When we had beautiful figures for GDP due to oil cash receipts, Sanusi, the central Bank governor…
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Since the defeat by the All Progressive Congress in last year’s general election, members of the Peoples Democratic Party have been forced to an unfamiliar position of being a party in opposition after sixteen years of calling the shots at the federal level. Gradually but steadily, members of the party, especially its leadership have come to accept that the years of dictating the pace of activities in the country are over; at least in the next three years when there would be another elections and the parties will seek the people’s mandate again. But rather than wallow in self…
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It is instructive that Nigeria remains a spectacle of dysfunction, no thanks to fading hopes of renewal through the All Progressives Congress which rode to power on the wings of a change agenda. Major cities are paralysed by lengthening fuel queues resembling scenes of fresh riots, while the failure to arrest pronounced infrastructural woes such as epileptic power supply remains a potent symbol of official and national incompetence. Emeritus Professor Akinjide Osuntokun, while lamenting recently, the death on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway of yet another brilliant young Nigerian alludes to the paradox of a nation whose technocrats build power stations…
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Governor Kashim Shettima has raised an alarm that something worse than the Boko haram terrorists group is coming. The governor who is also Chairman of the Northern Nigeria Governors’ Forum, gave the warning during the visit of a team from the United Nations led by its resident coordinator in Nigeria, Ms. Fatma Samoura. He said, “Boko Haram may be an appetizer for worse things to come unless we put our thinking caps on”. “The signals are there all over, the North is going to be inhabited by over 70 percent of Nigeria in 2050 when the nation’s population is…
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Nigeria’s power generation collapsed completely on Thursday at exactly 12.58pm to zero megawatt and this persisted for about three hours. Data from the country’s System Operator showed that around 1pm on Thursday, no power generation company in Nigeria produced a single megawatt of electricity. Industry operators told our correspondent that as a result of the complete collapse, no electricity distribution company received load allocation beginning from when the collapse was recorded up till around 3pm. The SO stated that the 11 distribution companies got zero electricity load allocation during the period of the collapse, meaning that for about…
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In line with the anti-corruption stance of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, Minister of Interior, Abudurahman Dambazau, has warned Nigerians interested in obtaining an international passport from the Nigerian Immigration Passport offices to refrain from paying above the official fees. The minister gave the warning on Friday during the inauguration of one of the 18 new passport offices located at the premises of the Government Office Annex, along Roundabout – NPA road in Warri, Delta State. Danbazau, who was responding to a question on alleged racketeering of passports by officers of the immigration service, said “I was happy…
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Engineer Ahmed Adu speaking to journalists at the event – The Acting Director-General, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Engineer Ahmed Abdu made an interesting revelation today, March 31 – Abdu revealed that between 2009 and 2014, BPP saved the nation N680 billion – The achievement was possible because of prior review of contracts awarded by Ministries, Departments and Agencies – The period in view was during the administration of Late Musa Yar’adua and his successor, Goodluck Jonathan Abdu made the revelation at the 2nd National Conference on Public Procurement (NACOPP) with the theme ”Sustaining the Anti-Corruption Campaign Through Best Procurement…
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– Aribisala says President Buhari gave up the fight against corruption after losing election three times. – Aribisala says there is no mandate against corruption. – The renowned scholar says the current fight against corruption by the President Muhammadu Buhari government is merely a fight against the PDP. Femi Aribisala, scholar and international affairs expert has criticized President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war. Giving a ten minute speech at a round table organized by the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law in the University of Lagos on Thursday, March 31, Aribisala says there is no mandate against corruption. Speaking at…
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Aribisala and Oby Ezekwesili at the Department of Jurisprudence and International law Roundtable at the University of Lagos Legal scholars and experts hurled verbal missiles around a round table convened to brainstorm on winning the war against corruption at the University of Lagos on Thursday. The round table, organised by the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, tagged “Winning the War Against Corruption” was also an opportunity to launch the book ‘Legal Perspectives to Corruption, Money Laundering, and Assets Recovery in Nigeria.’ The occasion began with the keynote speech ‘Rule of Law and Treatment of Politically Exposed Persons in Corruption…
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News website, Sahara Reporters, has published the positions and job titles of 91 children and relatives of politically exposed person secretly recruited by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Top government officials and party members whose children or relatives were hired in secretly hired by the bank include President Muhammadu Buhari, whose niece was employed; former Vice President Abubakar Atiku; Mamman Daura, a close ally of the president; Inspector General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase; the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, whose sons were hired, and the Minister of Interior, Abdurahman Danbazzau. The recruitments have drawn widespread…
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The timely response from Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) in supporting the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) by providing jet parts has enabled the NAF sustain its operations against the Boko Haram insurgents. This first of its kind effort on our part has attracted the global audience as we were featured on CNN as the first Nigerian car maker to make jet parts and take NAF to the sky in fighter jets. To further solidify this patriotic act and ensure the continuous supply of the fighter jet parts to NAF, the Chief of Air Force ably represented by Air Vice Marshal,…
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The nationwide power crisis being experienced in the country worsened, on Thursday 31/032016, with a total system collapse at exactly 12.58p.m. On the systems collapse, the nation got to Ground Zero, with all the Discos receiving zero megawatts allocation from the system operator, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, (TCN). The nation had experienced drastic reduction in power supply through the national grid in recent time, with generation standing at 2,243.20mw, which the Federal Government blamed on vandals. It was observed that before the systems collapse, allocation to Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC, earlier in the day stood at 257.97mw.…
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Read the press statement below.. According to reports on Linda Ikeji, all is now set for the prosecution of Dakuku Peterside, defeated Rivers State Governorship Candidate and NIMASA Managing Director who on Sunday directed his security details to murder an aide to the Chief of Staff to Governor Wike while fleeing with some result sheets from Ikwerre Local Government Area. The incident took place at the UTC junction in GRA after Dakuku Peterside instead of taking Ikwerre Local Government Area result sheets snatched from collation officers to INEC office drove with it towards the GRA. He had stormed the…
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…Buhari should order Julius Berger back to site – Stakeholders There is anger in the South East zone over the Federal Government’s abandonment of the N140 billion ($700 million) 2nd Niger Bridge. Investigations revealed that the contractor, Julius Berger Construction Company, stopped work on the project which is being constructed under Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement since April 2015. Concerned citizens of Eastern Nigeria and other stakeholders are appealing to President Buhari to direct the construction company to resume work on the project. After a private meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on August…
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John Kerry, United State’s secretary of State The United States will invest more than $600 million in Nigeria this year, Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday in Washington. He spoke during the opening session of the U.S.- Nigeria Bi-National Commission meeting. The Nigerian delegation was led by Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyema, supported by other officials including Nigerian Charge d’Affaires Hakeem Balogun. Those with Kerry include leaders from the State Department, USAID, the Defence Department, Commerce Department, and other key agencies. The U.S. Ambassador James Entwistle also attended. Kerry, who hailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s actions in office in the…
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Lawyers of Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the president, have written to PDP, threatening to sue them if they don’t apologize and withdraw their accusations within 72 hours. The official twitter handle of PDP last week accused Garba of illegally trading in foreign exchange, claiming he bought $800, 000 from CBN at official rate, and selling it off the same day at black market rate. Read Garbas representatives letter after the cut..
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– Fayose accuses Buhari of deluding Nigerians over Chibok girls. – He claims that the abduction was a mere political fabrication. Ayo Fayose, the governor of Ekiti state, has made a shocking revelation, claiming that the rumour of the abduction of the Chibok girls was mere political fabrication meant to oust ex-president Goodluck Jonathan from the office at all costs. He accused the federal government of deceiving Nigerians over the alleged missing schoolgirls, supposing that the All Progressives Congress used the situation to defeat Jonathan. Fayose said he viewed with delight the advocacy of Oby Ezekwesili-led Bring Back Our…
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Gov Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State on Saturday called for prayers to expose those behind insecurity in Nigeria. He also called for God’s intervention in the socio-economic and political activities of the country. Wamakko made the call when he addressed members of All Progressives Congress (APC) on his return to Sokoto after a two-week official trip to the United States of America and the United Kingdom. He said the nation was in dire need of prayers for the restoration of peace across the country. The governor added that Nigerians should seek God’s intervention over the prevailing security challenges affecting…
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Breaking his silence for the first time since his arrest and prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, has described the lingering fuel crisis crippling economic activities nationwide as a clear evidence that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) merely hoodwinked Nigerians with empty campaign promises of eldorado in order to vote the party into power and in the end, has nothing but pain and suffering to offer. Reacting to the daily pains and anguish Nigerians are forced to face in the President Muhammadu Buhari’s…
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Retailer Truworths Throws in Towel on Biggest African Economy Buhari’s Defense of Naira Chokes Imports, Spurs Black Market The promise of Africa’s biggest economy has turned to peril. Companies drawn to Nigeria by the prospect of a population bigger than Germany and Turkey’s combined are retreating; those staying have publicly criticized the president, a military strongman in the 1980s who came back to power via an election last year; and foreign investors are pulling their money out. The corporate tribulations that began with a slide in oil prices and accelerated after the imposition of capital controls are also entangled in…
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Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has accused his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi of being desperate to control the state.Wike also accused Amaechi of being behind the constant redeployment of security officers from the state. “It is difficult for anybody to defeat us in Rivers State because of the projects I have done in my short stay in office, and the fact that Rivers is a PDP state. The civil servants are happy with us. Nobody would be happy when, at the end of the month, they cannot take their wages home,” he said on Monday, March 28, 2016, while…
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ELEVEN lawmakers who are sympathetic to Governor Ayodele Fayose in the Ekiti State House of Assembly have fled Ekiti state as Policemen from Abuja stormed the state Assembly. The Lawmakers said they can no longer sleep in their homes due to alleged persistent threats and intimidation by the policemen sent from police headquarters in Abuja. In fact, as at now, they have temporarily gone into hidding apparently for fear of being arrested for some unfounded allegations by the policemen who they claimed were led by one CSP Mohammed Abubakar. Though, the lawmakers led by the Deputy Speaker, Mr.…
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Chinua Achebe’s lament for his native Biafra and the decline of Nigeria is powerful and moving Chinua Achebe, who died in March, was a giant of African literature. His 1958 novel, Things Fall Apart, has sold more than 10m copies; his Anthills of the Savannah is undoubtedly one of the finest novels to come out of Africa. Part of the appeal of his novels is that they are wonderfully well written. He has paid tribute here to his very English education at the best schools in Nigeria and how it moulded his literary career. But while he was reading…
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Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) youths in Kaduna State, yesterday pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to withhold the monthly Federation allocation to the 23 Local Government Areas, LGAs, of Kaduna State, claiming the state government had hijacked the council funds, contrary to earlier promise not to. On the platform of PDP Youths Democratic Front, they also alleged that the Mallam Nasir El Rufai-led government had continuously acted in contempt of the constitution of the country by forming an Interim Management Committee, IMC, to run Kaduna state councils since assumption of office. President of the group, Danjuma Sarki, at a briefing claimed:…
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A female Arab journalist who lives in Qatar has penned a bold article that asks Muslims in the Middle East how they would respond if Christian suicide bombers struck their public markets, collapsed their tall buildings or tried to force Muslims to convert to Christianity. Liberal Saudi journalist Nadine Al-Budair writes in Kuwait’s Al-Rai newspaper that Arab countries have refused to address the problem of terrorism and have yet to create a climate that matches the liberal, humanitarian climate of the West. She asked Muslims to consider what their world would be like if Christians the world over had…
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Peter Idabor, Director-General of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), has confirmed a pipeline blast at an oil field operated by Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in Bayelsa. According to community sources, the explosion which occurred on Easter Sunday, left several people injured. Mr. Idabor said a staff of the agency escaped death in the incident. He said the survivor had called the attention of the oil workers to the breach of safety procedure and left the scene shortly before the incident occurred. “I received a report of the incident from our staff in Yenagoa office…
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What is mine is mine and what is yours is yours. I can’t say that because am hungry I’d just go into the herd of cattle of a Fulani man and take a cattle, kill it and eat it. So why should a Fulani man because he wants to feed his cattle come into my farm and kill my crops to feed his cattle? Am really bemused because this should be a no brainer, but it seems to be proving very difficult. Is it because we can’t do anything about it or we don’t want to do anything about it?…
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The mutterings of discontent are growing louder in Nigeria’s street markets. The price of a bag of rice has surged by 12.5% in the past month. Supplies of bread have dwindled after bakers turned off their ovens to protest about the rising cost of flour. The rich lament that milk is missing from supermarket shelves. The poor complain about the price of garri (cassava flour). A fish importer estimates that 70m Nigerians can no longer afford his wares. Such are the symptoms of Nigeria’s foreign-exchange crisis. Africa’s most populous nation exports oil and imports nearly everything else. As oil…
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For her 18th birthday last year Temi Otedola wanted to celebrate in style. So her family hired One Mayfair and threw a bash none of the 180 guests would forget. The theme was Moulin Rouge (it was either that or Great Gatsby, she says, but she ‘loves all things Paris’) and guests were treated to a three-course meal, a performance by cabaret troupe It Girls and a DJ set by her 22-year-old sister Florence (aka DJ Cuppy), who played at Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration gala last month. Otedola is a style blogger, aspiring designer and the…
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The Nigerian Army wishes to regrettably inform the public that Colonel Samaila Inusa who was kidnapped on Sunday 27th March 2016, was found dead today at about 6.00pm. Preliminary investigation revealed that most likely the late senior officer was killed same day he was kidnapped by his abductors. This is because the body was found already decomposing around Ajyaita village off Eastern Bypass Kaduna, Kaduna State. Arrangements are in progress to move the body to 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna. May His soul rest in peace, Amen. We wish to state in unmistakeable terms that whoever is behind…
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Do you know that the Femi Adesina gaffe on vandals was actually terrible while the Kachikwu statement was only politically incorrect but can be spinned into a positive for the government? Let me explain. Adesina told Nigerians complaining about the worst power situation we have experienced in Nigeria since independence to go and fight vandals and protect facilities and forget about govt intervention. Ask any primary school student with even half a brain why government exists and he/she will tell you “to protect lives and properties”. That is 100% correct. If the president, through his spokesman abdicates that…
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The Chief Media Consultant to the Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies, FOSSRA, Yushau Shuaib, has on Monday, March 28, resigned his appointment after three years in service. Mr. Shuaib was engaged by the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, to serve as a media consultant to the Federal Governments Security, Intelligence and Response Organisations under a unified platform. In his notice of resignation obtained by Post-Nigeria, he stated that he could no longer continue to serve FOSSRA which is under the auspices of the Office of National Security Adviser, ONSA, because of what he termed, “misleading…
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*No, I won’t quit partisan politics, replied elder statesman. Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has enjoined elder statesman and member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board Of Trustees, BOT, chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu to denounce the membership of his political party, immediately, if he is ready to be remembered as a statesman. The governor gave the charge in Owerri, the state capital, during the child dedication church service of Emmanuel Kamsiriochukwu Iwuanyanwu, son of Chief Iwuanyanwu which held at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration Of our Lord, CATOL. Okorocha, who described Iwuanyanwu as a statesman urged Chief Iwuanyanwu…
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People think Islamism is the Conquest of Istanbul and turning old Catholic churches to Mosques. People think it is ISIS beheading Christians. That is the most extreme. Like viruses and bacteria, attacks like that on a host hardly makes for epidemic. NO. For epidemic, the virus and or bacteria must have an incubation period where it would ensure it is able to multiply and multiply without the host showing symptoms. It is when it has gotten a desired load that it begin to take out tissues and metastasize. Speaking of metastasis, Obasanjo assured us “Sharia will die a natural…
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I have taken time to study the actions, inactions and reactions of this APC federal government. My findings are as follows: 1. That the party was fundamentally predicated on opposition, pointedly at the former govt. 2. That they therefore did not approach their chase for power with any economic research nor projections on possibilities on what and how to deliver on governance in the event that they won. This is why we are seeing so many policy summersaults and “downgrading” of campaign promises, as Lai put it. 3. That coming from an essentially opposition background they have continued to…
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The Nnamdi Kanu Saga has received national and international media coverage in the past few months. Only two weeks ago hundreds of ‘Biafrans’ and supporters of the Biafran cause staged peaceful protests in front of the Vatican, headquarters of the Catholic Church in the world. There had been similar protests by the Biafran supporters in some European capitals. It is therefore timely now to address pertinent issues on the matter. Counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, Ifeanyi Ejiofor in a recent press briefing in Abuja, circulated in the social media and published in some national dailies called attention to very serious…
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Once the preserve of hardened criminals, abuse of drugs like codeine and others is on the rise, especially among married women in the North, as well as teenagers. We take a look at the disturbing trend. Fadeela, 18, is helpless. She is addicted to Tutolin, a codeine-containing cough syrup she consumes at least twice a day. Two bottles per day is what her system demands or it may just shut down. This has done great harm to her life already. She has since dropped out of school and now spends time at Mami Market in the city of Sokoto.…
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Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki acknowledging his supporters at the CCT Speaking on the “Code of conduct enshrined in the Constitution of Nigeria and its crucial importance in the fight against corruption”, Justice Uwaifo berated the trial of Saraki by the CCT, describing it as political. He said: “It is now open secret that the power behind the ruling APC did not back him (Saraki) for that office. It is fair to see a connection between that circumstance and the code of conduct matter. The chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar Yakubu There is the…
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The United States said on Monday it will press Nigeria in talks this week to adopt a more flexible foreign exchange rate to boost growth and investment in Africa’s largest economy. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told an audience at the U.S. Institute of Peace that Nigeria should ensure the value of the naira currency versus the U.S. dollar was “more realistic.” “While most people complain about the possibility of there being a devaluation, people are already operating on a devalued currency, and the only people who are not, are people who are doing it…
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Battle may be over appointment of Onikepo Animashaun, NPDC GM Legal Amid widespread criticism of the President Muhammadu Buhari government’s handling of the nationwide fuel shortages, national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday lashed out at the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, in a statement that exposed continuing rifts within the ruling party and the endless scramble among its leaders for sphere of influence in the government. For more than one month, the public has been faced with the frustrations of not being able to get enough premium motor spirit…
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INTERNATIONAL PRESS CONFERENCE BY FOREIGN OBSERVERS, DOMESTIC AND CIVIL SOCIETIES ORGANIZATION ON RIVERS STATE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY RE-RUN ELECTION, 2016 All Protocol observed. The Rivers State Re-Run elections for 3 senatorial seats, 12 seats of the House of Representatives and 22 House of Assembly seats were held on Saturday the 19th of March, 2016 across the state. The brief summary of our reports are as follows: POOR SENSITIZATION OF VOTERS: There was general apathy. In Etche Local Government Area some women were seen going to their farm and they expressed surprise that there was election on that day after the…
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The Full List of the budgets of Nigeria states for the year 2016 are stated below: Federal Government of Nigeria – 6.06 Trillion 1. Abia State – 96.7 billion 2. Adamawa State – 100.89 billion 3. Akwa Ibom State – 426 billion 4. Anambra State – 101.4 billion 5. Bauchi State – 102 billion 6. Bayelsa State – 150.6billion 7. Benue State – 133.4 billion 8. Borno State – 155 billion 9. Cross River State – 350 billion 10. Delta State – 266 billion 11. Ebonyi State – 101.1 billion 12. Edo State – 111.5 billion 13. Ekiti State…
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Pope emeritus Benedict XVI is “slowly, serenely fading” but remains “very lucid”, his personal secretary said in an interview published on Thursday. Joseph Ratzinger is “an old man, of course, but very lucid. Unfortunately, it’s become difficult for him to walk and he needs to use a walking frame,” Georg Gaenswein said in an interview with the Italian magazine Ben Essere. In 2013, Benedict became the first head of the Catholic Church to resign in seven centuries, amid speculation he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, unable to cope at the top of an institution beset by…
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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will soon conclude and make returns in the constituencies where voting and collation were done in compliance with the electoral act in the Rivers rerun election. Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, the commission’s director of publicity and voter education, disclosed this in a statement. INEC said the decision was arrived at after holding meeting with the Rivers resident electoral commissioner (REC), supervisor and monitors of the March 19 election. “INEC will conclude and make returns in constituencies where it is satisfied that voting and collation were done in substantial compliance with the electoral act…
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FORMER National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and its candidate in the Anambra Central senatorial election, Chief Victor Umeh, has allegedly been arrested by men of the Department of State Services, DSS, over perceived support for the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB. It was gathered that Umeh was invited to the headquarters of DSS at Amawbia at about 9 .00 am and after about two hours, was taken out of the office in a pick-up van en-route Abuja. Vanguard gathered that the security officials were said to have received petitions that Umeh was among those supporting the…
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The run-up to the federal and state legislative election reruns in Rivers State had been marked with much bloodshed running up to the dozens. So it was not totally surprising that last Saturday’s elections were also characterised by much violence. At the last count, at least five persons, including a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Samuel Okonta, had been killed. We are especially concerned that since the advent of the Prof. Mahmud Yakubu- led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) most of the rerun elections have either been marred by violence or officially declared inconclusive. The outcome…
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President Muhammadu Buhari speaking at the first National Executive Committee (NEC), meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja cleared the air that the fight against corruption has not yielded the expected result yet, as no money has been recovered by the administration. Contrary to the President’s various media releases and APC leadership and supporters claims, that the US officials gave them a list of Nigerians that stashed $100billion in US banks, no kobo has since been recovered by the government. Last week, the APC leadership dropped another bombshell claiming that about 6 Nigerian ex-governors have been identified…
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The more this government persecutes its perceived enemies, the more they are sowing the seeds of disintegration of our country. No-one wishes to be part of a country in which apartheid, genocide, ethnic cleansing, Islamization, state-sponsored terror and religious bigotry and the selective application of justice is alive and well. If you want a country to remain together you do not go out of your way to kill, destroy, intimidate and tell lies about those that oppose you, that criticize you and that are not in your political party. You do not try to relegate Christianity into a second…
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Sister to the late legendary pop icon and music artist Michael Jackson was last month reported to be quitting the entertainment industry because of her new religion. Janet who is married to Qatari Muslim billionaire Wissam Al-Manna disclosed that she almost committed suicide because of the restrictions and burden her new life and religion brought upon her saying it was not an easy transformation. According to MTV News, she revealed that she had been deprived of everything in life as she could not listen to music, drive a car, wear designer clothes but only the ‘Black Abaya’ and…
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Second Republic politician and Anambra State Chairman of the defunct Nigeria Peoples Party, NPP, Chief Guy Ikokwu, has urged the Federal Government to release without delay the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu because his continued incarceration is not in the best interest of the country. Ikokwu, a lawyer of over 50 years and a chieftain of the defunct National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, attributed the raging clamour for Republic of Biafra to the refusal of Nigeria’s leaders to restructure the country, which he argued is hindering the nation’s socio-economic growth. Nigeria, Igbo must not…
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EVERY election sends a message. What were the messages behind the partially conclusive parliamentary rerun polls in Rivers State which took place last weekend? It is important to answer this question to know the juncture of Nigerian politics and democracy from that corner of the Nigerian commonwealth. One bold, identifiable trait is that certain old myths are disappearing. Before now, political pundits held that because Nigerian Minority groups usually feel “unsafe” in the opposition, they gravitate to whichever party is in power at the Centre. The fact that states in the North dominated by indigenous Minority groups (such as Plateau,…
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“A big lie (German: große Lüge) is a propaganda technique. The expression was coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his 1925 book Mein Kampf, about the use of a lie so “colossal” that no one would believe that someone “could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.” He said, “…in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more…
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PROTOCOLS: We are members of the legacy party, plus APGA and DPP. We realized since 2005 that to remove the PDP from power, we must sink our differences, come together and form a party. God willing, that eventually happened and that is why we are where we are today, coming together inspite of our differences, both personal and ideological. We must not forget that. Having identified that as members of the legacy party, we again identified three fundamental things facing us. First, security, second, economy and unemployment and thirdly, corruption. We campaigned throughout the country on these three fundamental issues…
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caucus at the Senate has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to release the outstanding results in Saturday’s legislative re-run elections in Rivers. The Minority Leader of the Senate, Chief Godswill Akpabio, made the call on behalf of the caucus at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday. Akpabio said that the call was part of the resolutions reached at the caucus’ meeting on Wednesday. He said that the meeting resolved that INEC should release the elections results, particularly those collated from all polling units, wards and local government areas, in its…
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A committee set up to probe contracts awarded by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) from 2011 to 2015 has indicted more than 300 companies and prominent citizens including serving and retired officers of the armed forces. Over N7 Billion has been recovered so far from the indicted companies and individuals.Another N41 Billion is to be refunded by the indicted companies while further investigation by the EFCC has been ordered to determine whether another N75 Billion should be recovered from some of the companies for unexecuted or partially executed contracts. The committee further established that one of…
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Every hundredth refugee a terrorist, every third terrorist an ISIS suicide bomber, ready to die at Turkish command Damascus VT/ Kurdish Popular Forces serving in Syria today captured a senior Turkish intelligence official who has, under “enhanced interrogation” implicated President Erdogan. VT was given access to recorded confessions which detailed the role of the MIT in the Brussels explosions along with plans for more attacks across Europe. The “suspect” has confessed his role in planning the Brussels attack in coordination with ISIS at Raqqah. Intelligence that led to the capture was supplied by a Russian signal intercept. We are…
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Former President Goodluck Jonathan is a role model who should be respected across Africa and beyond, retired military officer and social critic, Abubakar Umar, has said. Mr. Umar, a retired colonel, said Mr. Jonathan deserved praises for his timely concession call to his major challenger in the 2015 presidential election. He said that “personal sacrifice” and display of sportsmanship during the contentious poll has made him a “beacon of hope for the growth of democracy in Africa.” He said that was a clear departure from the norm across Africa, where leaders in times past refused to willingly relinquish…
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Barely one year after his allegation that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, allegedly gave out N7 billion to the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Pentecostal Fellowship off Nigeria (PFN), to facilitate and support his reelection, controversial Pastor and Executive Director of the Voice of Northern Christian Movement (VNCM), Kallamu Musa Dikwa, has eaten his words by apologising to the people his maligned. Specifically, he apologised to the President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor; General Overseer of Living Faith Worldwide aka Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo and Secretary, National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF), Pastor Bosun Emmanuel. Bosun…
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Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, says the Federal Government will hunt down the killers of the NYSC member, Samuel Okonta, who was killed during the rerun election in Rivers state last Saturday. Dalung said this while paying a condolence visit to the Director General of NYSC, Brigadier General Johnson Olawumi yesterday March 23rd. He berated politicians for always engaging in politics with bitterness. “Politicians aspire to hold public office because they want to develop Nigeria. In doing this, they are talking of protecting the lives of Nigerians. So it is very bad that we…
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My dear people of Rivers State I wish to, with profound humility and appreciation thank you all for your peaceful conduct and effective participation in electing your representatives during the re-run legislative elections of March 19 2016 despite the provocations from some overzealous security personnel and their political collaborators. 2. I wish to also express my profound gratitude and loyalty to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Mohammadu Buhari for his uncompromising commitment towards entrenching a permanent culture of free, fair and credible elections in the country. 3. I am fully convinced that…
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In what could be described as one of the grand heists in President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime, the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr. Babatunde Fowler, has been fingered in a N7billion tax refund scam. http://bdv.bidvertiser.com/BidVertiser.dbm?pid=715479&bid=1777511 Also, aggrieved management staff of the FIRS are accusing him of unilateral employment of 250 new staff without following civil service rule for such employment, while he has embarked on a witch hunt against those perceived to be in opposition to him. Documents obtained showed that Fowler, a known ally of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader,…
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Lincoln will reveal a concept version of its next-generation Navigator at the New York Auto Show on Wednesday — and the big new SUV is the boldest concept Ford’s luxury brand has rolled out since its comeback began several years ago. The Navigator was first introduced in 1997. With the Cadillac Escalade, it defines the large-and-in-charge SUV market. These are SUVs executed on an epic scale. Sales were relatively strong until the early 2000s, when gas prices began to creep up and the tide of consumer sentiment turned against big, gas-guzzling trucks. The financial crisis put Lincoln into a…
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POLICE RECRUITMENT PORTAL http://www.npf.gov.ng http://www.psc.gov.ng Commences 01/04/2016 Forms are free Available for Constables, Cadet Inspectors and ASPs
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Saudi Arabia needs more cash. According to The Wall Street Journal, the world’s second-largest oil producer is looking for an $8 billion loan from international banks. As The Journal reported, the country ran a record $100 billion deficit in 2015, largely because of the sharp decline in oil prices. Over the past few months, Saudi Arabia has adjusted to low oil prices by following a strategy that seems primarily aimed at avoiding production cuts. Riyadh has implemented new taxes, cut funding for social programs, and prepared to sell off parts of Saudi Aramco, the country’s multi-trillion-dollar state oil…
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Targeting the elite’s private air fleets might be a good place to start making spending cuts. As Nigeria’s fiscal situation continues to deteriorate and the gulf between the official and black market currency rates yawns ever wider, the finance ministry is trying to cut costs wherever it can. There is good reason for this focus. According to figures released by the ministry, travel was the single biggest government line item from 2012 to 2014, at N248bn ($1.25bn) for the three years combined (the ministry did not provide annual figures). This is equivalent to an extraordinary 18 per cent of…
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Labour unions in Kaduna State, on Wednesday gave governor Nasir El-Rufai seven days ultimatum to stop further verification exercise of workers in the state as well as other anti labour exercises. The national bodies of the labour union also asked governor El-Rufai to pay all backlogs of salaries owed workers in the state or face the wrath of organized labour unions and civil society organizations in the state. Addressing a crowd of workers at Kaduna NLC Headquarters, Wednesday, NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Waba and TUC President, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama in their separate speeches said they were prepared to fight…
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100 years ago, on March 20, 1916, #OtaBenga took a gun and fired a bullet into his own heart, ending the short and tragic life of the “missing link” from Africa. His treatment at the hands of so-called gentlemen from New York’s Bronx Zoo and the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri came in the height of the eugenics movement, forty years after the end of (legal) slavery in America. Today, Benga is remembered for his sacrifice in documentaries and on social media networks like Twitter, a martyr for the cause to end racism. The 32-year old Mbuti…
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) expresses great concern at the turn of events at the last Saturday’s Rivers State National and State Assembly rerun elections. Whilst we join well-meaning Nigerians to condemn the cases of violence which reportedly characterized the process in some areas, we enjoin the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to immediately constitute a panel to carry out a dispassionate investigation of the circumstances with a view to unraveling the truth and bringing the culprits to book. The PDP also condemns the reported roles played by some officers and…
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At least 37 people have been killed and several seriously injured in the coordinated terror attacks at Brussels international airport and a city metro station, which took place today. The state-owned Belga news agency reports that shots were fired and shouts in Arabic were heard before the two explosions. The attacks come four days after Salah Abdeslam, the main fugitive in the Paris attacks, was seized in Belgium. French President Francois Hollande said, “The terrorists have struck Belgium, but it is Europe that was targeted.” Belgium’s Interior Minister Jan Jambon had said on Monday that the country was…
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The Prime Minister of Benin Republic, Lionel Zinsou, who contested the 2016 Benin Republic presidential election has on Monday, March 21, conceded defeat to his opponent a business mogul, Patrice Talon. President Boni Yayi, had earlier appointed Zinsou after the new 28-member government, including 17 new ministers were sworn in. Zinsou, served as an adviser to Yayi and was a managing partner at French bank, Rothschild and Cie after which he later joined Paris-based private equity firm, PAI partners in 2008. http://bdv.bidvertiser.com/BidVertiser.dbm?pid=715479&bid=1777511 Talon who is a business mogul was reported to have won the second round of Benin’s presidential…
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*Says No INEC official is empowered to cancel already declared results Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that the state government has compiled videos of the atrocities committed by the military across the state during the rerun elections, saying that the videos will be released to the public at the appropriate time. http://bdv.bidvertiser.com/BidVertiser.dbm?pid=715479&bid=1777511 The governor also stated that with the declaration of results by returning officers in the respective constituencies, no INEC official is empowered by law to cancel or nullify such results. He said that the military orchestrated violence in the state could be part of…
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Minister of Transportation and Rivers APC leader, Rotimi Amaechi has blasted APC candidates who lost the re-run elections yesterday saying “hunger will kill you (people)”. This was in reply to the stinker given to him and credited to his former Chief of Staff and aspirant to the Obio/Akpor Constitency seat for the Federal House of Reps, Tony Okocha. Speaking at the Port Harcourt International Airport on his way back to Abuja, Amaechi said “its unfortunate that people who are contesting election are waiting for me to give them money before they can campaign. How can people be so wicked…
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Some constituencies in Imo State, may remain without representatives in the State and National Assemblies, since the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, failed or neglected to implement the re-run polls ordered by the court within 90 days. Hope for re-run elections in Owerri West and Oru East state constituencies, as well as the Okigwe senatorial seat remained very dim, as no dates had been fixed for the exercise, as at press time yesterday. Reacting to this development, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate for Owerri West state constituency, Sir Chidi J. Ihemedu, a lawyer, lamented that since INEC failed to…
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The national leadership of the PDP said the INEC and security agencies should be held responsible, if there is a break down of law and order in Rivers State as a result of the failure of the commission to declare the results of last Saturday’s election. http://bdv.bidvertiser.com/BidVertiser.dbm?pid=715479&bid=1777511 In a statement, yesterday, National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said the conduct of polls fell short of the standard expected in view of the preparations put into it. The position of the party came on the heels of a warning by the National Vice Chairman, South of the party,…
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Two explosions ripped through Brussels airport Tuesday during the morning rush hour as hundreds of passengers were trying to check in. Airport authorities said the explosions caused several injuries. Airport spokeswoman Anke Fransen said: “There were two blasts in the departure hall. First aid team are in place for help.” Passengers were led onto the tarmac and the crisis center urged people not to come to the airport. The explosions happened only days after the prime suspect in the Paris attacks Salah Abdeslam was arrested in Brussels.
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Spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum and former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Professor Ango Abdullahi has expressed the displeasure of the Northern forum with the way President Muhammadu Buhari is steering the ship of the country. Ango Abdullahi who was at the forefront of the campaign for the power to come to the north in 2015 says that the president is surrounded by sycophants who are detrimental to his agenda. He also sounded a word of caution to the President over his treatment of those he described as “permanent friends and enemies.” “Buhari should be careful about…
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President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote said President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has helped the company greatly. According to him, the group will not be where it is without help from the President. He made this known after the successful signing of the $3.30 billion loan agreement to finance Dangote Group’s petroleum refinery. He maintained that the group will “replicate the successes recorded in the cement industry through backward integration in petroleum refining” “Your policies have helped us greatly. Without them, we will not be where we are today. We have taken the challenge and we will…
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Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has declared that no official of the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC) has powers to cancel results already declared by the returning officers in the respective constituencies. The governor was speaking against the backdrop of the insistence by the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Aniedi Ikoiwak, that the commission had not released any results other than the nine state constituency and one federal constituency results announced on Sunday. The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state has also called on INEC to cancel results of the re-run elections on grounds of irregularities in…
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The Chairman, Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bro. Felix Obuah calls for an immediate arrest and prosecution of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, Mr Magnus Abe and Dakuku Peterside, Jukaye Flag Amachree and other APC chieftains for masterminding the spate of violence, killings and various cases of electoral malpractices during the Saturday re-run elections in some parts of the State. In a Press Statement made available to elombah.com, dated 21 March 2016 and signed by Jerry Needam, Special Adviser On Media And Publicity to The PDP State Chairman, Bro Felix Obuah, the PDP chairman also…
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As the saying goes, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. This implies applying the same standard to all men and women who are in similar and same circumstances. No double standard. No discrimination. William Shakespeare in his epic drama, ‘Macbeth’ said that fair is foul and foul is fair, meaning that the same standard should be applied at all times in similar situations. It then means that whatever that is applied to one should be applied to another and in Nigeria’s parlance, there is no need changing the goal post in the middle of…
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Not every man can take the disappointing and humiliation from NIgerian wives imported to America. Wife killers are on rampage in the US. An Epidemic: Nigerian Men Killing Their Nurse Wives In America over alleged insurbodination and usurpation. 1. “Yes, I have killed the woman that messed up my life; the woman that has destroyed me. I am at Shalom West. My name is David and I am all yours.” Those were David Ochola’s words during his 911 (U.S. Emergency Number) call to authorities after shooting dead, his 28 years old wife, Priscilla Ochola, in Hennepin, Minnesota. …
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