News Nigeria

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is to appeal the January 30, 2019 ruling of Justice Stephen Pam of a Federal High Court, sitting in Jalingo, Taraba State, which discharged and acquitted a former acting governor of the state, Sani Abubakar Danladi, for an alleged N450 million fraud. Based on findings during investigation, the EFCC had charged Danladi along with Joel Ikenya and Mark Useni to Court, for conspiracy and violation of financial regulations. They were alleged to have collected the said sum as part of monetary inducement, to influence the outcome of the 2015 general election. It is worth noting, that on January 25, 2019 the EFCC secured the conviction of two former staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, who were charged to court, for similar offences. They were alleged to have partaken in the "sharing" of several sums of money, in the build-up to the general election, without going through a financial institution. The dec

 Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, seeking to halt his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over asset declaration. Essentially, Onnoghen sought to stop the tribunal from arresting, arraigning and trying him on the six-count charge brought against him by the Federal Government. The presiding Justice Abdul Aboki, in his ruling on the matter, dismissed the appeal and declared that the trial of Onnoghen at the CCT should proceed. The Court of Appeal had earlier urged the CCT to stay proceedings in the trial of Onnoghen pending the outcome of the application before it. The three-member panel of the court granted an interim order filed by the embattled CJN, after listening to submissions from parties in the application. A ruling on the application for temporary order was delivered by Justice Abdul Aboki who said: “This ruling is adjourned till Wednesday January 30. The tribunal is ord

President Muhammadu Buhari has declared that in all the positions he has held in the country, he has never been convicted of corruption. He made the declaration at Abakaliki Township Stadium, Ebonyi State, during the All Progressives Congress (APC), presidential campaign. He said, “I can assure you that I, as the President today has never been in a position of abusing trust. As a governor of the whole six North Eastern states, as Minister of Petroleum for over three years and as a former Head of State. I was arrested, detained, investigated but they never found anything against me.” He recalled that when he came for campaign in 2015, he promised three things, first being to tackle the security situation in the country and that at a time 17 local governments in the North East were under the control of Boko Haram but as at today, there is no local government under the control of the terrorists. Buhari also said that with favourable weather, Nigeria has achieved food security and

The Chief Press Secretary of the Governor of Taraba State Hassan Mijinyawa was on Wednesday abducted by gunmen in Gashaka Local Government area of the state. It was gathered that Mijinyawa’s driver and a foreigner were also kidnapped although they were in separate vehicles and heading towards different directions. Police spokesman, David Misal, said the incident occurred around 9am along Nyibango, Bali-Gashaka High Way. The area, thickly forested, has become a den for armed robbery operations. The deputy press secretary, Iliya Bekyu Akweh, who spoke on telephone from Sardauna that Mijinyawa was on his way to the Mambilla Plateau to join his principal when he stumbled on the gunmen. The government has not yet issued any official statement on the incident. Governor Ishaku and other officials had left Jalingo for Sardauna for political campaigns since Tuesday. The media chief was kidnapped with his driver, Hussein, who was driving their bus marked: Taraba State Government House Pr

AS  THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR TARABA STATE ARCH DARIOUS DICKSON JOIN THE CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF GEN. T. Y BURUTAI TO OPERATIONALIZE  THE 3 DIVISION  FORWARD OPERATION BASE NIGERIA ARMY  MAMBILLA. 30/01/19. Today Marks Another Milestone in the quest to ensured Peace is Returned and Sustained on the Mambilla Plateau as Chief of Army Staff Gen. T.Y Buratai Visits Mambilla Plateau to Operationalize the 3rd forward Operation Base Mambilla which Was in effect 12 Nov.2018 . Gen T. Y Buratai In his Speech Says it has become expedient for Nigeria Army to establish this Forward Operation base Mambilla because of the recent clash between Farmers and Grazers  and also the threat from Cameroon which is also a threat to National Security . On 2019 General Election the General warn those with ill intention of Disrupting the Peaceful  conduct of General Election to have a rethink as Nigeria Army will leave no Stone unturned to ensure credible and Peaceful  election in the state  and Country as a whole

The Zamfara State Governor, Abubakar Yari, has warned the National Assembly against passing a new National Minimum Wage that would be difficult for states to pay. Mr Yari, who is the Chairman, Nigerian Governors Forum, issued the warning in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of the public hearing on new National Minimum Wage bill on Monday in Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) recalls that the organised labour leaders had rejected the approved N27,000 by the National Council of State, demanding N30,000 as a new minimum wage. Reacting to the demand of organised labour, Mr Yari said that the demand for N30,000 as the new minimum was not realistic. According to him, only Lagos State can afford that N30,000 as minimum wage, not even Rivers can pay that much. He said that leaders must tell themselves the truth and not pass figures that would be difficult to implement in the field. “It is easy to call figures, but when it comes to implementing in the field, it becom

Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja has unanimously struck out the case of the Peoples Democratic Party Governorship candidate in Ekiti State, Olusola Eleka and upheld Dr Kayode Fayemi of the APC as a duly elected governor of the state. Details soon.

Facebook plans to integrate its messaging services on Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. While all three will remain stand-alone apps, at a much deeper level they will be linked so messages can travel between the different services. Facebook told the BBC it was at the start of a "long process". The plan was first reported in the New York Times and is believed to be a personal project of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Once complete, the merger would mean that a Facebook user could communicate directly with someone who only has a WhatsApp account. This is currently impossible as the applications have no common core. The work to merge the three elements has already begun,  reported the NYT ,   and is expected to be completed by the end of 2019 or early next year.

The Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has sent the names of new Deputy Inspectors-General of Police to the Police Service Commission for consideration and approval. It was gathered that the nominees include the Force Secretary, Taiwo Lakanu; former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, and four others. The Police Service Commission, which is still holding its plenary meeting, is expected to announce the names of the DIGs later today .

Wannan zai bada dama ga masu amfani da shafukan daban-daban su rika zumunta ko tura sakwanni ko da kuwa mutum yana da rajista da manhaja daya zai iya zumunta da wadanda ke amfani da sauran. Misali, idan mutum yana amfani da Facebook, sai abokinsa yana amfani da Instagram kadai, za su iya zumunci ko tura sako tsakaninsu. Shafukan da ke zaman kansu, hadewarsu zai sa a rika tura sakwanni tsakaninsu. Hakkin mallakar hoto GETTY IMAGES Facebook dai shaidawa BBC cewa wannan shirin da sauran aiki a gaba domin yanzu aka fara.

Nigeria’s opposition People’s Democratic Party Sunday alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress and President Muhammadu Buhari are making moves to bribe senators to gain ‘ immunity over “constitutional breaches and gross misconduct.” PDP’s spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan in a statement on Sunday said “the PDP have been informed of how the Buhari Presidency has been unsettled following national and international outcry over his constitutional breaches, particularly the assault on the judiciary in his attempt to forcefully remove the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen and impose a pliable CJN to do his bidding.” Buhari on Friday suspended Onnoghen and simultaneously swore-in an acting CJN, Ibrahim Mohammed. Buhari explained that decision to suspend Justice Onnoghen was at the request of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over allegations that he failed to declare his assets. The suspension sparked mixed reactions from individuals and groups within and outsi

A  United Nations  rights group has unearthed more than 50 mass graves in the western  Democratic Republic of Congo  after a spate of killings were reported in the region last month. Abdoul Aziz Thioye, the director of the UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO), said on Saturday that "more than 50 mass graves, as well as common and individual graves that we have identified," were uncovered in the town of Yumbi in the DRC's western province of  Mai-Ndombe . "This suggests that the number [of deaths] is quite high because a communal grave depending on size may contain five, ten bodies" or even "one hundred bodies or four times more," Thioye said following a joint fact-finding mission with local authorities. General Fall Sikabwe, the army chief in western DRC, told the AFP news agency that an investigation had begun. "They have killed soldiers and policemen, taking their weapons to slaughter with," he said, giving no further details abo

The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, has said the leadership of the union is still consulting its members on the Federal Government’s offer. He said the outcome of the consultations would determine what ASUU would be presenting to the government’s team during their next meeting within the week. Ogunyemi said this in a text message he sent to our correspondent. The union leader was responding to enquiries about ongoing negotiations with the Federal Government and the possibility of ASUU calling off its three-month-old strike. He said, “All I can say for now is that we’re still consulting on the latest offer by the government. We hope to get back to them in the coming week.” He, however, said the government had yet to show enough commitment to warrant calling off the strike. Ogunyemi also said the leadership of ASUU had done enough to lower its demands from the Federal Government. He was however hopeful that a resolution would be reached when

Food crisis has rocked the Internally Displaced Persons Camp located in Negatavah Government Primary and Secondary School in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital. The IDPs, our correspondent learnt, now go from house to house to beg for food. Our correspondent, who visited the camp on Saturday, reported that the children looked malnourished as some mothers have resorted to menial jobs and begging to get food for their children. An IDP, Mrs Yarda Musa, who lamented the hardships facing them, said lack of food and medicals were the main problems. She said, “When we came into the camp over a year ago, we were being fed three times a day, but as we progressed, the feeding was reduced to two times a day and for the past three weeks we only eat once a day. “As we speak, we don’t know what our children will eat the next day. Our food has finished and our children are crying for food, but we cannot help it. Many of the IDPs are now out to beg for food from people in the neighbourhoo

Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has urged the people of the South-East to disregard the adoption of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, by the apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo. He urged them to vote for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, President Muhammadu Buhari. The governor described the adoption of Atiku as a non-issue, saying Buhari would defeat PDP like he did in 2015.A coalition of Igbo groups, Ohanaeze Worldwide, also dissociated itself from the endorsement of Atiku and his running mate, Peter Obi by the Igbo group. The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Sam Onwuemeodo, on Saturday, said the state government described the adoption as inconsequential. He said, “Ohanaeze is a socio-cultural organisation and not a registered political party and there is no voting unit or a polling unit called Ohanaeze. The adoption of Atiku/Obi ticket by the Ohaneze should give nobody any concern. This is

The app will allow the public shaming of "deadbeat debtors" The Chinese Government has developed a mobile app that tells users if they are near someone who is in debt. The app, called a "map of deadbeat debtors," flashes when the user is within 500 meters of a debtor and displays that person's exact location. News of the app has caused quite a bit of controversy after it was originally reported by the state-run China Daily. It is an extension to China's existing "social credit" system which scores people based on how they act in public. It's no secret that China keeps a very close watch on its citizens, but this new public shaming approach takes it one step further. The app is available through the WeChat platform which has become immensely popular in China. The government stated that "Deadbeat debtors in North China's Hebei province will find it more difficult to abscond as the Higher People's Court of Hebei on Monday introduced&

“The Embassy of the United States is deeply concerned by the impact of the executive branch’s decision to suspend and replace the Chief Justice and head of the judicial branch without the support of the legislative branch on the eve of national and state elections. We note widespread Nigerian criticism that this decision is unconstitutional and that it undermines the independence of the judicial branch. That undercuts the stated determination of government, candidates, and political party leaders to ensure that the elections proceed in a way that is free, fair, transparent, and peaceful – leading to a credible result. We urge that the issues raised by this decision be resolved swiftly and peacefully in accordance with due process, full respect for the rule of law, and the spirit of the Constitution of Nigeria. Such action is needed urgently now to ensure that this decision does not cast a pall over the electoral process.”

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has unequivocally rejected and condemned the suspension of the CJN, describing it as “attempted coup against the Nigerian Judiciary and evident suspension of the Nigerian Constitution by the executive arm of the Federal Government.” The NBA, in a statement signed by its President, Mr. Paul Usoro (SAN), said it portends a slide into anarchy and complete deconstruction of the Rule of Law and due process. “It amounts to an absolute breach of the Constitution and the usurpation of the powers of the Senate and the Nigerian Judicial Council. “It is unfortunate that the executive branch of government purports to suspend the CJN on the basis of an alleged ex-parte order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, the same Tribunal that, to the knowledge of the executive, had, only the previous day, Tuesday, 22 January 2019 adjourned its proceedings to Monday, 28 January 2019 and has before it a motion on notice that is yet to be argued, seeking the same reliefs a

The United States and the United Kingdom have warned that politicians, who instigate violence or are involved in electoral fraud, will be refused visas to enter their countries. In statements issued by the US Embassy and British High Commission in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, on Thursday, both governments called for free and fair elections, announcing that politicians working towards scuttling the exercise would not only face a number of sanctions but would also have their family members face visa bans to the US and the UK. “The United States Government does not support any specific candidate or party in Nigeria’s upcoming elections but supports the Nigerian democratic process itself. We support a genuinely free, fair, transparent and peaceful electoral process.The US Embassy in its statement, said, “The conduct of the upcoming elections in Nigeria is important not only for Nigeria, but for the African continent. “We and other democratic nations will be paying close attention to actions o

Super Eagles player, Ahmed Musa, has announced the death of his mother. Musa shared the news on his verified Twitter handle on Thursday. He tweeted, “What a sad day of my life. I just lost my mum.” He had earlier shared a get well message directed at his mother, who had obviously been ill. He tweeted two photos and wished that she would soon get back on her feet, telling her family, that she was “back in action” .

PDP Vice-Presidential Candidate, ex-Gov. Peter Obi on Thursday chided the Federal Government’s social investment programme “Tradermoni”. He said the scheme is fundamentally flawed, stressing that the beneficiaries are” untrained, untraceable and inadequate funding”. Obi was guest of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa spoke at the two- day Job Creation Exhibition which held in Asaba, Delta State. According to him, unemployment can only be solved by promoting micro, small and medium enterprises, urging the Federal Government understudy the Delta State government’s scheme. His words “The focus of every government is to create employment and you can’t solve unemployment anywhere in the world without promoting micro, small and medium enterprises. So, what Governor Okowa is doing through the job creation office, training people and giving them the funding to start their own business. When you compare it with the Trader Moni initiative by the F.G.I really don’t want to compare them, but how ca

A federal court in Lagos has convicted a former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) administrative secretary in Kwara State, Christian Nwosu. Mohammed Idris, the judge, found Mr Nwosu guilty of laundering N264million. “I find that the prosecution has proved the case beyond reasonable doubt in the manner required by law,” the judge said. The judge adjourned sentencing till Friday and ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) ensure his present Nwosu in court tomorrow. The EFCC  re-arraigned Mr Nwosu for allegedly accepting gratification  from former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke. Mrs Alison-Madueke is still at large. Mr Nwosu was re-arraigned alongside Tijani Bashir before Mr Idris. They were charged with another INEC official Yisa Adedoyin, who had pleaded guilty to the offence and was convicted following a plea bargain. Mr Nwosu initially  pleaded guilty to receiving N30million gratification from Mrs

The new minimum wage bill passed the first and second readings at the Senate on Thursday just hours after President Muhammadu Buhari transmitted the draft legislation to the lawmakers. The president’s letter, read to the lawmakers by the deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, urged the amendment of the National Minimum Wage Amendment Act 2011 to raise minimum wage from N18,000 to N27,000. A tripartite committee set up by the government recommeneded N30,000, but the council of state on Tuesday accepted that figure for federal staff and recommended N27,000 for state and private sector workers. The Nigeria Labour Congress has rejected the N27,000. It insists on N30,000 for all workers. Meanwhile, the Senate said the bill sent to it made N27,000 minimum to all workers, with no variation between federal and state workers. “The tripartite committee comprise representatives of the federal government, governors’ forum, organised private sector and organised federations of trade u

Court of appeal on Thursday declared former Cross River State governor Donald Duke as the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). An FCT High Court in Maitama has declared a former Nigeria information minister Jerry Gana as the winner of the presidential primary election of the party in December 2018. The party had declared Duke as the winner of the election and its flag bearer for the 2019 presidential election. SDP said Duke polled 812 votes, while Gana had 611 during the presidential primary election. Details later.

Unknown gunmen have abducted the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Edo House of Assembly, Mr Michael Ohio-Ezomon, in his house at Eme-Ora, Owan West Local Government Area of the state. The Chairman of the local government, Mr Frank Illaboya who confirmed this to newsmen in Eme-Ora on Thursday, said Ohio-Ezomon was abducted by three gunmen around 1:am on Thursday. According to Illaboya, the candidate’s police orderly was killed by the abductors who whisked him away through the window. “Our candidate in the forthcoming election has been abducted by three gunmen at his house at about 1:am this morning. “The orderly attached to him was killed and our candidate was taken away by gunmen through the window. “As I speak to you now, there has been no contact from the abductors,” Illaboya said. The Edo Commissioner of Police, Mr Hakeem Odumosu, told pressmen at the scene of the incident that investigation would commence immediately. He also said no contact had been established

Gen TY Danjuma commissions 1.335Bn naira VSF project in Taraba General TY Danjuma (retd) on Tuesday commissioned the International model secondary school and school of preliminary and remedial studies Takum, newly renovated by the Victims Support Funds (VSF) and and Development Africa in collaboration with the state government. Danjuma, who is the Chairman Presidential Committee on Victim Support Fund, said that the project was a childhood dream come true, urging the community to take the project as theirs and to protect it. He clarified that the aim of the fund set up by former president Goodluck Jonathan is to bring succour and relief to all victims of terrorism in the northeast and all parts of the country, and thanked the VSF for approving the project in his hometown of Takum. Funds were raised from individuals, businesses, shareholders and other such sources under President Jonathan when we raised over 50 billion naira in cash and pledges. “Let me thank the