Herdsmen’s attacks threatening Nigeria’s unity – Igbo Senators

The South-East Senate Caucus on Thursday warned of imminent danger and possible threat to the unity of Nigeria if the Federal Government failed to urgently address the Enugu massacre carried out by Fulani herdsmen.

 

The Igbo senators stated this in a statement by the member, representing Abia South in the upper chamber, Enyinaya Abaribe, at the end of their emergency meeting held in Abuja.

They did not only condemn the attack, which left over 50 persons dead and scores driven out of their homes, but also called for a summit of the South-East and South-South states on the issue.

They said governors, members of the National and state Houses of Assembly, socio-cultural associations, traditional rulers and major stakeholders should mandatorily be part of the proposed meeting.

According to the lawmakers, the emergency summit will review and evaluate the very scary situation and proffer a coordinated response that will ensure the security of lives and property of their people.

Ben Murray Bruce to reject SUV from the senate.

The senator representing Bayelsa East senatorial district, Ben Murray-Bruce had on Thursday come under attack following a series of tweets he posted on this tweeter handle bothering on the current state of the economy.

Murray-Bruce wrote, “Our economy needs fixing before it is too late or the elite must turn their homes to prisons by building big walls protect us from the people.

Although some Nigerians agree with him on some of the things he said, some said since he was part of the Senate, they are not doing Nigeria any good.

After several questions on the social media whether the sanator would accept the SUV if the senate gives to him, The lawmaker however said he would not accept any SUV from the Senate.

INEC releases supplementary guidelines for future elections

 The Independent National Electoral Commission has released additional guidelines to the existing 2015 Guidelines and Regulations for the conduct of elections in the country.

 It said this was done after it had approved the pilot of the Continuous Accreditation and Voting Procedure at elections, saying it was done during the rerun elections across the country.

 This information was contained in the commission’s bulletin released in Abuja.

The commission however stressed that all procedures specified in the Guidelines and Regulations for the conduct of the 2015 General Elections remain in effect.

It said that voting shall be by continuous accreditation and voting system and that accreditation process shall comprise authentication and verification of voters, using the Smart Card Reader.

The card, it said, would be used in the checking of the register of voters, and providing ink to the cuticle of the specified finger.

Reps ask IG to probe Enugu killings

The House of Representatives has mandated Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase to investigate the killings allegedly carried out by Fulani herdsmen in Enugu State. Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Lawal Daura was also summoned to brief the House on measures being put in place by his agency to stop the killings.

The probe, according to the lawmakers, is to ascertain the cause as well as bring those culpable to book. The decision of the House followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance by Chukwuemeka Ujam (PDP, Enugu).

He expressed regret that findings have shown that a number of persons have been declared missing with their whereabouts unknown.

He said the recurring killings by the Fulani herdsmen threaten the security of the country and added that an eye witness account indicates that this mayhem was perpetuated by an army of masked herdsmen emerging from the bushes and attacking their victims with careless abandon.

These merchants of death were armed with guns bow and arrows, swords and engaged in sporadic shooting for a lengthy period of time, sending shivers into the inhabitant of this community and hacking any person within sight to death.

Minority Leader, Leo Ogor (PDP, Delta) said the issue of conflicts between Fulani herdsmen and host communities over grazing must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

The motion was unanimously adopted after it was put to a voice vote by the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara.

2,303 prospective corps members begin orientation course in FCT

About 2,303 graduates from various tertiary institutions within and outside the country, on has commenced orientation course for the mandatory one year national youth service in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), FCT Coordinator, Omotayo Adewoye, said this after the Director-General of the scheme, Brig.-Gen. Sule Kazaure, inspected facilities at the Permanent Orientation Camp in Kubwa, Abuja.

Adewoye said that the figure may likely increase to 2,500 before the end of the three weeks orientation exercise as the scheme was expecting more prospective corps members to register and partake in the service year.

The coordinator, who lauded the computerised system of registering corps members, said the system had so far enabled the scheme eliminate fake corps members and individuals who send others to serve on their behalf.

He said that the hostels, toilets and bathrooms were ready and 24-hour water supply made available to ensure that corps members were comfortable during the orientation course.

Adewoye said that although the orientation camp had been disconnected from the power supply, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) had promised to address the problem within a week.

According to the coordinator, the corps had created another alternative source of power which is the generator and since corps members came in we have made power supply available to them.

He urged the incoming corps members to obey the rules and regulations of the NYSC in order to ensure a successful service year.

Adewoye said that the scheme would ensure it played the parental role it was mandated to play for the next one year, but urged corps members to be obedient and participate in all activities.

Horror in Kwara as train crushes motorcyclist, hairdresser

 

An horrific scene played out around Olunlade in the Ilorin-Offa route  in Kwara State when a commercial motorcyclist (okada rider) and a woman identified as Mama Kafila were both crushed to death by an oncoming train.

 

The pair sources say met their untimely deaths when the okada rider was conveying the hairdresser to buy iced block for sale in an accident that saw the train dragging the mangled bodies of the victims to a distance of about 100 metres after they were hit.

 

According to an eyewitnesses, the Okada rider and the hairdresser could have escaped the incident had the motorcyclist listened to warnings not make a dash across the railway track.

 

But according to another eyewitness, the okada rider had an ear piece on and could not hear the blaring horn of the oncoming train.

 

Ajayi Okasanmi, Kwara State Police Public Relations Officer said the command would investigate the cause of the unfortunate accident.

Senate Leadership: How Ekweremadu’s election caused budget impasse

 

Fresh findings have revealed how the emergence of Senator Ike Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President of the 8th Senate caused the on-going budget impasse.

According to investigations, the political crisis that came up with having a an opposition figure as deputy president of the Senate led to the crisis currently delaying the signing of the 2016 budget by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The presidency, sources said, vowed not to have anything to do with Ekweremadu, who it believed usurped a position that should have been occupied by an All Progressives Congress, APC Senator.

Knowledgeable sources at the National Assembly reveal that in the past, an ad-hoc committee, led by the Deputy President of the Senate and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives supervised works on the budget.

The committee, the sources said, was comprised of the director-general of the Budget Office, senior officials of the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Presidency and the chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Appropriation.

2015 elections: EFCC arrests REC, 4 others over N650m bribe

A Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Gesila Khan and four others, have been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for allegedly receiving N651 million bribe during the 2015 polls.Sensitive election materials for the 2015 presidential and senatorial polls were also retrieved from the residences of some of the suspects, as well as many documents on financial and landed properties, The Nation reports.

The suspects allegedly committed the poll bribery fraud in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states.

Khan, who was the REC in Rivers State during the last general election, allegedly got N185, 842, 000 out of the bribe sum under probe by the EFCC.

The other suspects involved in the bribery scandal include Fidelia Omoile (Electoral Officer in Isoko-South Local Government Area of Delta State)–N112,480,000; Uluochi Obi Brown (INEC’s Administrative Secretary in Delta State)–N111,500,000; a former Deputy Director of INEC in Cross River state, Edem Okon Effanga—N241,127,000 and the Head of Voter Education in INEC in Akwa Ibom, Immaculata Asuquo–N214,127,000.

Denying a goalscoring opportunity: Red card rule relaxed by IFAB

Arsenal's Per Mertesacker (left) was sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity in the Premier League match against Chelsea in January Players who commit a foul to deny a goalscoring opportunity will no longer automatically be sent off, football's rule-making body has confirmed.

The previous 'triple-punishment' rule required a red card - and therefore a suspension - as well as the award of a penalty under those circumstances.

However, players committing accidental fouls that deny a goalscoring chance will now be cautioned instead.

But deliberate fouls will still incur a red card.

Those include holding, pulling or pushing, not playing the ball, serious foul play, violent conduct or deliberate handball in order to deny a goalscoring opportunity.

The change has been ratified by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) - a body made up of the four British football associations and Fifa - which decides on
changes to the Laws of the Game.

It follows a comprehensive, 18-month review, led by former Premier League referee David Elleray.

PRESIDENT BUHARI ORDERS ESTABLISHMENT OF TECHNICAL COMMITTEES ON NEW CHINA/ NIGERIA JOINT PROJECTS

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that technical committees be immediately established to finalize discussions on new joint Nigeria/China rail, power, manufacturing,
agricultural and solid mineral projects.

The President gave the directive Tuesday in Beijing after talks between his delegation and high-ranking Chinese government officials led by President Xi Jinping.

The technical committees are to conclude their assignments before the end of next month.
President Buhari had at the talks welcomed China's readiness to assist Nigeria in her bid to rapidly industrialize and join the world's major economies.

President Jinping agreed that Nigeria's chosen path of development through economic diversification was the best way to go.

To help Nigeria to achieve this, China promised to fully support the country through infrastructural development and capacity building. China also expressed an interest in setting up major projects in Nigeria such as refineries, power plants, mining companies, textile manufacturing and food processing industries as soon as the enabling environment is provided by the Federal Government.

In response to President Muuhammadu Buhari's desire to make Nigeria self-sufficient in food production, President Jinping offered 15 million U.S. dollars agricultural assistance to Nigeria for the establishment of 50 Agricultural Demonstration Farms across the country.
China and Nigeria also agreed to strengthen military and civil service exchanges as part of a larger capacity-building engagement.

In line with this, China offered to raise its scholarship awards to Nigerian students from about 100 to 700 annually. In addition, 1,000 other Nigerians  are to be given vocational and technical training by China annually.

President Jinping applauded the war against corruption being waged by President Buhari.

The Chinese leader assured President Buhari that Nigeria will always have a special place in the affairs of the Peoples Republic of China. After the talks, President Buhari and President Jinping witnessed the signing of several agreements and memorandums of understanding by Nigeria and China.

The agreements include a "Framework Agreement Between the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the National Development and
Reform Commission of the Peoples Republic of China."

Others were a "Memorandum of Understanding on Aviation Cooperation between the Ministry of Transportation (Aviation) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Ministry
of Commerce of the Peoples Republic of China" and a "Memorandum of Understanding Between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Government of the Peoples Republic of China on Scientific and Technological Cooperation".

A "Mandate Letter Between the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Central Bank of Nigeria on Renminbi (RMB) Transactions was also signed.

Garba Shehu
SSA to the President
(Media & Publicity)
April 12, 2016

I'm proud of the boys, this 'broken team' worked so hard- Samson Siasia

Super Eagles interim coach Samson Siasia has expressed his disappointment at losing to Egypt in last night's AFCON qualifier but says he is proud of the effort put in by his players over the two legged fixture. Nigeria's loss to Egypt means the Super Eagles won't participate at the 2017 AFCON tournament in Gabon, the second time in two straight years. 

On arrival in abuja from Alexandria, Egypt this morning, Siasia, who took over from Sunday Oliseh after his shock resignation, says he inherited a 'broken' team. 

The super eagles boss while thanking Nigerians for their huge support says his team were not luck right from the first game in kaduna adding that God knows why it happended like that say they would do better next time.

I won’t resign as Minister of state for Petroleum Resources – Kachikwu

Minister of state for Petroleum Resources and Group
Managing Director of NNPC, Ibe Kachikwu, says all those
planning to storm Abuja to stage a protest calling for his
resignation should save their fuel as he will not be
resigning stressing that he still have a lot of work to do.

Kachikwu said this while speaking at the senate committee on
Petroleum Resources ( downstream) yesterday March
29th.

Jonathan won the African Leadership tour

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has won the African Leadership tour

Jonathan defeated APC National chairman, Bola Tinubu, founder of ECONET wireless Strive Masiyiwa, former UBA Chairman Tony Elumulelu, President, African Development Bank Akinwumi Adesina and Koffi Anan, former UN secretary general to win the award.

Jonathan's victory was disclosed in a letter sent to him by former, Pro Tempore president of the Liberian senate and chairman of the 2015 African Leadership Person of the Year selection committee, Cletus Wortoson.

Wortoson advise the continent’s leaders on the merits of good governance and enduring democracy noting that Jonathan disserve the Award due to his popular mantra of ‘one man one vote’ and ‘my ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian,’ is a message that must be preached loud and clear on the continent.

Chief among the many factors considered was Jonathan's efforts towards promoting good governance in Africa through the promotion of free and fair elections across the continent.

The board resolved that there is no one best suited at the moment than Your Excellency, Good luck Ebelle Jonathan.

According to the board, Jonathan have served his country, Nigeria, meritoriously, conducted a free and fair election, in which he lost and yet conceded defeat, a development seeing by many in the continent as historical.

Congratulations sir.....