₦airaland Forum

A chieftain of the APC, Timi Frank has stated that the seven northern governors who yesterday endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari for second term did so for their selfish interest, not out of love for the number one citizen.


He stated that Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s remark that he has no apology for nudging Buhari to seek re-election depicts arrogance and impunity, warning Buhari that such was what aroused the anger of Nigerians against his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan.

The APC bigwig said the governors, with whom Buhari had a closed-door meeting at the Presidential Villa on Friday, could have paid a condolence visit to their Benue counterpart, Samuel Ortom, over the killings in his state.

The other governors who want Buhari to seek re-election are Abubakar Bello of Niger, Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe, Yahaya Bello of Kogi, Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano, Jibrilla Bindo of Adamawa and Simon Lalong of Plateau.

read more: https://newsworth.ng/el-rufai-displaying-arrogance-pitted-nigerians-jonathan-apc-chieftain-warns-buhari/

The National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, has announced that orientation camps would be opened for prospective Batch B, Stream 2, corps members nationwide on Tuesday, January 16, 2018.


In a post on its Facebook page on Saturday, the NYSC management urged prospective corps members to report promptly to the orientation camps in their states of deployment at the camp addresses indicated in their call-up letters.

The scheme also disclosed that the 2017 Batch ‘B’ Stream II orientation course is scheduled to hold in 15 NYSC Orientation Camps which are Abia, Bauchi, Benue, Delta, Enugu, Sokoto, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Plateau, Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Rivers and the FCT.

Get further detail from the link below:

https://newsworth.ng/nysc-reveals-camp-opens-2017-batch-b-stream-2-corps-members/

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Friday claimed that a speech made by its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, prevented rampaging herdsmen from attacking any community in Igboland, adding that Kanu foresaw widespread killings by the herders and took precaution.


The group stated that at a time South-East governors could not muster the courage to mobilize people to confront the Fulani herdsmen menace head on, Kanu charged every IPOB unit to guard against any Fulani herdsmen attacks on any community within their area.

The IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, made this known in a statement, adding that his group successfully repelled the herdsmen on numerous occasions in Enugu State, Abia and Delta State but lacked support from the South-East Governors and leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

Read more:

https://newsworth.ng/nnamdi-kanus-speech-stopped-herdsmen-attacking-igboland-ipob/

Leader of the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, AYCF, Yerima Shettima says with the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the situation of things in Nigeria “is even worse than what we used to have”, adding that he does not believe the President has anything to offer Nigerians.


He recommended that no politician above the age of 60 should again be allowed to preside over Nigeria, asserting that “they cannot use their yesterday and use our today. They cannot waste their own generation and continue to waste our own”.

While vowing to lead a campaign for youths to get their permanent voter cards, PVCs, Shettima stated that the time has come for Nigerians to look beyond regional interest and install the right leadership for the country, insisting that old men must be retired from politics in 2019.

Read more here:

https://newsworth.ng/buhari-worsened-nigeria-wont-get-arewa-youths-votes-2019-yerima/

The Ekiti state governor, Ayodele Fayose on Friday alleged that his predecessor now minister of Mines and Steel development, Kayode Fayemi is the one advising Governor Nasir El-Rufai to sack Kaduna state teachers said to have failed a competency test.

A statement issued by the Ekiti governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, reports his principal as making this claim during an interactive session with heads of public primary and secondary schools in the state.

Newsworth recalls that over 20, 000 teachers were sacked by the Kaduna state government, claiming that they had failed its competency test conducted early in June 2017.

On Monday, teachers in public primary schools in Kaduna State stayed away from classrooms in compliance with a directives of the Nigeria Union of Teachers that they should embark on an indefinite strike to force the El-Rufai’s administration to reverse the sack. The governor is however insisting that there’s no going back on the strike.

Read more here: https://newsworth.ng/fayemi-instigating-el-rufai-sack-kaduna-teachers-fayose/

Home Public Affairs
Public Affairs
Atiku defected because he can’t get APC ticket even without Buhari contesting – El-Rufai
By Newsworth - December 21, 201705


The Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai says former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, because the Turakin Adawama knows he cannot get the party’s 2019 presidential ticket even where President Muhammadu Buhari refuses to seek second term.


Speaking in a Voice of America, VOA, Hausa Service Programme, “Democracy Today”, he stated that the former VP left the APC because he was looking for a party whose flag he would fly in the 2019 election, having seen that APC governors have endorsed Buhari for second term.

El-Rufai said, “We in the APC were aware from the outset that Atiku was going to leave the APC back to the PDP in December and we thank God that he left in November...

https://newsworth.ng/atiku-defected-cant-get-apc-ticket-even-without-buhari-contesting-el-rufai/

Legendary reggae artiste, Majek Fashek has fired back at controversial on-air personality, Ifedayo Olarinde, alias Daddy Freeze for disapproving of his recent performance at a church concert in Abuja.


Majek the ‘rainmaker’, before now had not performed at faith based events, but did so on Sunday December 17, at the Christmas Carol of the Commonwealth Of Zion Assembly, COZA, in Guzape, Abuja.

Daddy Freeze took to his Instagram to condemn the rainmaker over the concert saying: “I am still searching for the sense in this. I am a huge Majek fan, but do I want to see him perform in a church.

“How did we get here? Maybe I’m wrong, but I thought Christian altars are supposed to be sacrosanct…..

“Have you ever seen an artiste like Majek perform in a Buddhist or Hindu temple?

“Can Majek perform inside the `Okija’ shrine? or the `soppona’ or `ayelala’ shrine?

“If other religions value their altars and keep them sacred, is it out of place to suggest we do the same?”

Reacting in a video on Instagram...

Source: https://newsworth.ng/coza-performance-majek-fashek-tells-daddy-freeze-stop-talking-like-kid/

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Tuesday observed that those who made an ATM out of the nation’s commonwealth are now parading themselves as rescuers of the country.


He therefore challenged the civil society to work with the media and other stakeholders in ensuring that Nigerians never forget, for one moment, the damage done to the country by treasury looters.

The Minister threw the challenge at the launch of the Anti-Corruption Situation Room, ACSR, which includes civil society organizations, media groups, government agencies and other stakeholders, in Abuja.

”Those who turned our treasury to their piggy bank are once again presenting themselves as the saviours of the nation. They say the best time for Nigeria was when the proceeds of their corruption subsidized many and gave the illusion of economic boom. They are so emboldened as to say Nigerians are earnestly yearning for them. No contrition. No apologies. No shame. Just sheer bravado. Unbridled arrogance. Revisionism.

”The Civil Society, the media and indeed all stakeholders owe it a duty not to allow Nigerians to forget, to say ‘Never Again’ to those who view Nigeria as nothing but a cash cow to be milked to death,” he said.

Reeling out what corruption has caused Nigeria, the Minister listed the conversion to a slush fund of the $2.1billion meant to buy weapons for the Nigerian military to fight Boko Haram; the fact that the country could only generate 2,690 megawatts as at May 29, 2015 despite spending billions of dollars on power and the failure of past
governments to save for the rainy day, even when oil was selling above $100 a barrel for many years.

He listed some of the gains of the anti-corruption fight as raising the country’s foreign reserves from $23 billion to $38 billion; stoppage of the payment of phantom subsidy of between 800 billion and N1.3 trillion; and the recovery of at least $43 million and 56 houses from an official of the immediate past administration.

Mohammed identified other gains of the fight against corruption include the recovery of $2.9 billion from looters so far; the Whistle-blower policy which has led to the recovery of $151 million and N8 billion in looted funds from just three sources; the elimination of thousands of ghost workers, which has saved the country N120 billion and the elimination of the N108 billion in maintenance fees payable to banks, pre-TSA.

Source: https://newsworth.ng/lai-mohammed-treasury-looters-now-acting-love-nigeria/

The Senate Committee on Power has turned down an appeal by the Minister of state for Power, Works and Housing, Mustapha Baba Shahuru to allow the Permanent Secretary, perm sec, in the ministry, Mr. Frank Edozie, to provide answers on his behalf.


This happened on Monday during the defence of the 2018 budget projections of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, when the Minister of State could not respond to questions posed to him by members of the Committee.

Read more here:
https://newsworth.ng/budget-defence-minister-begs-senators-allow-perm-sec-answer-behalf/

A chairmanship aspirant at the recent national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja has filed a suit before the Federal High Court, in Abuja, seeking the cancellation of the December 9 convention.


The ex-minister on Monday prayed the court sitting in Abuja to nullify the outcome of the convention on the basis that he was “excluded” from the excercise.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, he stated than rather than using his name, the convention planning committee used “Taoheed Oladoja” and as such, his name did not appear on the ballot papers.

“That was not my name. Delegates could not have voted for a name that is nonexistent. If my name is not there, it means that there was no election,” he said.

https://newsworth.ng/adedoja-begs-court-cancel-pdp-convention/

The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi ll, has called for a law that will compel emirs, governors and other public office holders to go for drug test before getting into positions of authority.


Sanusi, who made the appeal in Kano at the opening of ongoing Senate Roundtable on Drug Abuse Epidemic in Nigeria, declared that the prevalence of drug abuse was a sign of failure on the part of governors.

While stating that he would be happy to subject himself to drug test, he said, “Every emir, every politician, every Senator should go through drug test, before attaining any office in the Country they must be subjected to taking a drug test. I will be very happy to subject myself to a drug test.

https://newsworth.ng/emir-sanusi-recommends-drug-test-governors-emirs-politicians/

National leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Saturday declared that the party is one of its kind in Nigeria and the whole of Africa. This was as he claimed that APC “is the only progressive party in Nigeria and Africa”.


He spoke at a rally where former Oyo governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, and other politicians formally moved in to the APC. Other politicians who defected to the party include...

https://newsworth.ng/apc-progressive-party-africa-tinubu/

Popular columnist and publisher of Ovation magazine, Chief Dele Momodu has seen the truth in rumours making the rounds that former Kano governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso will be dumping the All Progressives Congress, APC, to vie for the 2019 presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.


Read more here:
https://newsworth.ng/2019-bayelsa-governor-signals-kwankwasos-defection-pdp/

Newsworth

Nigerian R&B singer, Seyi Shay has revealed that having a bigger backside was one of the good things that happened to her this year, but clarified that her bum didn’t gain some flesh through injections or cosmetics surgery.


She revealed that she almost went for a surgery to increase her boobs but later changed her mind, arguing that she could not have gone for operation on her buttocks having left her boobs as they are.

Seyi Shay told Saturday Beats that she came about a bigger backside thus; “I did not get this big bum through injections or surgery. If I did not do surgery on my boobs, is it my backside I would then operate on? Someone advised me to be doing squats. I do 100 squats in the morning, in the afternoon I do 50 and then at night, I do another 100. It hurts...

https://newsworth.ng/seyi-shay-reveals-enlarged-bum/

Supervisory Commissioner for the Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfillment in Imo state, Mrs. Ogechi Ololo has led members of the Rochas Mandate Movement in a solidarity rally for Governor Rochas Okorocha in Owerri.

She expressed the determination of the movement to ensure that only someone with the passion to develop the state like the governor would govern the state come 2019.

https://newsworth.ng/happiness-commissioner-says-someone-like-okorocha-will-succeed-imo-governor/

The Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, has warned that any motorist caught driving against traffic regulations will forfeit his or her vehicle till after the Yuletide, invariably next year.

Read more here

https://newsworth.ng/christmas-frsc-motorists-violate-traffic-rules-forfeit-vehicles-till-2018/

Dancehall artiste, Burna Boy at about 5pm on Friday reported at the headquarters of the Lagos State Police Command in Ikeja to state his side of the story over allegations of his involvement in a robbery attack on a fellow artiste, Mr. 2kay.


The musician born Damini Ogulu was subsequently arrested, interrogated and detained and is expected to be charged to court on Monday alongside four of members of the gang earlier arrested.

Burna had been declared wanted by the Lagos Police Command in connection with the robbery attack on another popular musician, Mr. 2kay at Eko Hotel and Suites early last month.

Suspected gang leader of the suspected robbers, Tunmise Omotore, had reportedly confessed on how they disguised as room service to rob Mr. 2kay at Eko Hotel and Suites on the instruction of Burba Boy’s Road Manager, Joel Kantiock.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Imohimi Edgal, after the interrogation, said the State Police Command has zero tolerance for all forms of crime and would not hesitate to prosecute anyone found culpable in any criminal offence perpetrated in the State.

https://newsworth.ng/robbery-police-grill-burna-boy-charged-court-monday/

Newsworth

The Chairperson of the African Union, AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat disclosed on Friday that a lot of things could not have been achieved by the continental body without the contributions of President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigeria.


He stated this while meeting with Buhari at the Aso Presidential Villa,
according to a statement issued by presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina.

While lauding his host for what he was doing for Nigeria, and for Africa, Mahamat said...

https://newsworth.ng/au-chair-many-things-impossible-without-buhari/

Newsworth

As activities for the 2019 general elections heat up, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen has called on judges in the country to be wary of desperate politicians who may come knocking on their doors.


He gave this advice on Thursday during the opening of the 2017 Court of Appeal Judges Conference at the headquarters of the Court in Abuja, stressing that judges should be careful so as not to subject themselves to ridicule and embarrassment.

“Let me remind us that our salvation remains in our hands; so in the approaching frenzied political activities leading to the 2019 General Elections let us continue to watch the company we keep, the people we open our doors to lest we unwittingly open ourselves to ridicule and embarrassment as the politicians will do anything not necessarily legal, to have their way including destroying our hard earned reputation and integrity.

“I therefore say to all of us, be strong, courageous, fair but firm. Stick to the constitutional provisions, the Law and doctrine of precedents (stare – decisis) and you cannot go wrong. Even when you are wrongly accused, as we very much are, be patient and remain assured that ‘Truth crushed to the earth shall rise again the eternal years of God are her‎s'”, the CJN averred.

Read more here; https://newsworth.ng/2019-watch-company-keep-politicians-embarrass-us-cjn-tells-judges/

National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, says he has no plan to replace Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as President Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate in the 2019 election, adding that Osinbajo cannot abandon another joint ticket with Buhari for full pastoral work without discussing such decision with him and the party.

He stated this in response to the report by a national daily that Osinbajo, an RCCG pastor, was considering returning to full church work while Tinubu was being mooted as a replacement for him, “as a way to have a solid South West support for the APC in the face of a South East/South South alliance in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)”.

Reacting in a statement issued on Wednesday by his media aide, Tunde Rahman, the APC leader dismissed the story as a “classic case of utterly and irredeemably-fake news” that has no empirical or logical foundation.

While insisting that there is no plan for him to be a vice presidential candidate in 2019, Tinubu stated that the story does great injustice to Osinbajo, who he described as a man of the highest integrity, moral rectitude, amazing humility, high intellect and unimpeachable credibility.

He added that the Vice President is a man of fierce loyalty and absolute trustworthiness who will never do anything to undermine Buhari as demonstrated when his boss travelled to London on medical vacation. The ex-Lagos governor went on to state that he and the people of the South West have absolute confidence and are exceedingly proud of the excellent job Osinbajo is doing as Nigeria’s Vice President.

The statement reads, “The attention of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Media Office has been drawn to the front page lead story of The SUN newspaper of yesterday, December 13, 2017, which sensationally and ridiculously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari may pick Asiwaju Tinubu as his running mate for the 2019 election. This is a classic case of utterly and irredeemably fake news.

“There is no empirical or logical basis for this mischievously speculative story. Is it even conceivable, as the story recklessly insinuates, that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo would be considering returning to full church work rather than run with his boss, President Buhari for a second term if the latter so decides without as much as discussing such a sensitive issue with his party and with Asiwaju Tinubu? In any case, is this story not entirely unwarranted and indefensible as the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket has an electoral mandate of four years out of which it has spent only two and a half years?

“This is clearly an attempt to distract the APC Federal Government from the yeoman’s job it has been doing in rescuing the country from the deep rooted socio-economic, political, security and moral mess inherited from the PDP’s 16 years misrule of Nigeria, instigate crisis within the party, stoke dangerous embers of religious disaffection within the party and the country generally and stem the remarkable progress being made in the reinvention and revitalization of Nigeria.

“The SUN newspaper, through this kind of story, does great discredit to Nigerian journalism, which has made considerable strides towards greater professionalism and excellence over the years. For the avoidance of doubt, Asiwaju Tinubu has absolute confidence and faith in both President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo who have been working hard harmoniously in offering inspirational leadership to Nigeria at a most critical period in her history. The hemorrhaging of the national economy through the wanton and unprecedented corruption that obtained before the advent of the APC Federal Government has been stanched.

“There is greater sanity, accountability and transparency in the management of the country’s finances. The Boko Haram insurgency has been substantially contained. We should not allow ourselves to be derailed from the job we are effectively undertaking in fulfilling our campaign promises anchored on the tripod of containing insecurity, taming the scourge of corruption and resuscitating the economy.

“The Buhari and Osinbajo-led Federal Government is deftly steering the country out of an economic recession that was the result of the ineptness of the PDP years of the locusts. Asiwaju Tinubu will never support any attempt to distract Buhari and Osinbajo from the job they are passionately doing through the kind of false report carried by the Sun. In particular, this story does great injustice to Vice President Osinbajo. Here is a man of the highest integrity, moral rectitude, amazing humility, high intellect and unimpeachable credibility. Here is a man of fierce loyalty and absolute trustworthiness who will never do anything in word, thought or deed to undermine his boss. His unquestionable dependability and indisputable fidelity to his oath of office was demonstrated beyond question by his honourable conduct during the President’s medical vacation. Asiwaju Tinubu and the people of the South West have absolute confidence and are exceedingly proud of the excellent job Professor Osinbajo is doing as Vice President of Nigeria.

“Asiwaju takes serious exception to the insinuation by the Sun and in some other quarters that there was ever any so-called frosty relationship between Buhari and Tinubu. We challenge the Sun to provide any evidence where Tinubu has ever complained of any grouse against Buhari. As Asiwaju had cause to point out recently, having been elected President, Buhari had to be given the space to run his government. There have always been and will always be channels of communication between Tinubu and Buhari as members of the same party. Their interaction must not necessarily always be conducted in the public space.

“Contrary to the impression the Sun seeks to create, Asiwaju’s politics is not that of unbridled personal ambition for selfish interest. When at some point in the build up to the 2015 election, President Buhari offered him the Vice –Presidential ticket, Tinubu gratefully and publicly thanked the President.

“When it turned out that such an offer would not be in the interest of the party and would play into the hands of enemies of change, Asiwaju unreservedly and passionately threw his support behind Osinbajo as the best man for the job. His opinion has not changed. Indeed, his confidence and belief in Osinbajo has been amply justified by the latter’s sterling performance in the office. This attempt to cause disaffection between the duo cannot and will not fly.

“As Asiwaju firmly asserted in a public statement on December 17th 2014 endorsing Professor Osinbajo for the position of running mate to President Buhari ‘After all the political calculations are made and the dust of competition has settled, it must be this nation and its people who stand first and foremost.

“The question becomes whether we stand strong, able to shape ourselves into our best future or will we stand frail and trembling, burdened by the abject failure to surmount the multiple problems confronting us…For me, political ambition will never triumph over patriotic conviction. This delicate moment affords no space for emotion to intrude to blind us from what is best.

“The APC is the best and only vehicle to enact the progressive and broad change this nation cries for. I eagerly lend myself to this fine cause without me having to be on the ticket. This is a time for cohesion and an overriding sense of mission. We must defeat the foe before us and resist all temptations intended to entice us to fight among ourselves’. As it was then so it remains today and on this patriotic and selfless commitment Asiwaju stands unshakably.”

https://newsworth.ng/tinubu-reacts-report-running-buhari-2019/

In the spirit of Christmas, the Enugu State governor, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has approved free transportation for indigenes of the state residing in other parts of Nigeria, who are desirous of returning home to celebrate this year’s festive season with their loved ones.

Announcing this on Wednesday, the Managing Director of Enugu State Transport Company, ENTRACO, Mr. Bob Itanyi, said the free transportation will benefit Enugu indigenes in far-flung states of the federation like the FCT, Lagos, Jos, Ibadan, Kaduna, Kano, Minna, Gombe, Ilorin, Sokoto, Jalingo, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Port Harcourt, among others.

Read more here:

https://newsworth.ng/christmas-ugwuanyi-offers-free-ride-enugu-indigenes/

Newsworth



Home Nationwide
Nationwide
FG hands over State House, Marina to Lagos govt
By Newsworth - December 12, 201704


The Federal Government on Tuesday completed a process of about 20 years for the surrender of the State House in Marina to the Lagos State Government.


This happened with the signing and exchanging of documents between the state government and the Federal Government in Abuja.

The edifice, which was a pre-Independence structure, is one of the federal government’s properties in Lagos State that are allegedly not being fully utilised.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in 2016 approved the handing over of the State House, turned presidential lodge to the Lagos government.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had made a formal request to the Presidency to have the presidential lodge to be released to Lagos to enable the state to transform the Marina-Onikan axis into a world-class arts and tourism hub.

At the take over of the structure on Tuesday, while Governor Ambode signed for the state government, his predecessor now Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, signed on behalf of the Federal Government.

Recall that the Federal Government had in August 17 handed over the Presidential Lodge, Marina to the Lagos State Government.

Permanent Secretary, State House Abuja, Mr Jalal Arabi, and Secretary to the Lagos State Government, SSG, Mr Tunji Bello, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the formal handover of the lodge to the Lagos State government.

Arabi said at the time, “We are gathered here to transfer the State House, Marina to the Lagos State Government and it is all in the spirit of togetherness, the same Nigeria, unity for a purpose.

“Nothing has changed and nothing is lost”.

While receiving the State House, Bello commended Buhari for his statesman-like gesture in releasing the edifice to Lagos.

He said that handing over of the edifice was an affirmation of the healthy intergovernmental relationship existing between the Federal and Lagos State Government.

The SSG assured the presidency that the state government would put the edifice to the best and most judicious use, “ensure its transformation without compromising its structural integrity and preserve its architectural finesse”.

“We will ensure that the edifice becomes a tourist destination which residents of Lagos, in particular and Nigerians in general, will not only be proud of, but compares to similar ones in distant locations,” he stated.

https://newsworth.ng/fg-hands-state-house-marina-lagos-govt/

Newsworth

A former chairman of The Punch newspapers, Ajibola Ogunshola, has revealed that Nigeria’s late military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, died a day before carrying out his plan to close down the newspaper.


He spoke in Lagos while giving an introductory remark at a public lecture delivered by a former United States ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington. The lecture also marked the launch of “Defend the Defenseless”, a book written by Arese Carrington, wife of the former diplomat.

Recounting the role played by the press during the struggles for democratic rule, Ogunshola said, “During the years of military rule, the press as a whole suffered. The National Concord and The PUNCH bore the brunt of the fate that befell newspapers and some magazines.

“One of the journalists in detention then, Mr. Babafemi Ojudu, after his release, said that when under incarceration, he got information from some soldiers on June 7, 1998 that Abacha had concluded plans to close down The Punch again.

“But the day after, that was on June 8, Abacha died,” he narrated.

https://newsworth.ng/abacha-died-day-shutting-punch-newspapers/

Newsworth

The Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Monday presented a 2018 budget estimate of N1,046,121,181,680 before the Lagos State House of Assembly.


The projected budget size is One Trillion, Forty-six Billion, One Hundred and Twenty-one Million, One Hundred and Eighty-one Thousand, Six Hundred and Eighty naira.

Tagged Budget of Progress and Development, the appropriation bill
has a recurrent expenditure of N347bn and a capital expenditure of N699bn.

This Budget proposal represents an increase of 28.67 percent over the N813 billion presented by the Lagos governor in 2017.

Newsworth recalls that the Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, had over a week ago attained a new first by presenting a budget estimate of N1.3trn for the 2018 fiscal year to the state House of Assembly.

According to him, 70 per cent of the appropriation bill is for capital expenditure, while 30 is for recurrent expenditure. That was the first time a state in the country would be proposing an annual budget of over a trillion naira.


https://newsworth.ng/lagos-joins-trillionaires-club-ambode-presents-2018-budget/

Newsworth

Governor Rochas Okorocha, who was recently in the eye of the storm for creating the Ministry for Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment in Imo State, has urged the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, to carve out a similar department that would be concerned with making Nigerians happy.


Speaking at the weekend when NAF officers led by the Air Officer Commanding Ground Training Command, AVM Sampson Akpasa, visited him at the Government House, he identified Happiness as a vital aspect of human existence.

The governor claimed that 89 per cent of Nigerians are truly not happy, adding that while only “four per cent could really be happy to some extent”, “seven per cent might claim to be happy”.

While lauding the Nigeria Air Force “for the good job they are doing in this country, especially their fight against insurgency”, he posited that agitations, insurgence, and hate-speech come up when people are not happy.

The governor continued, “if you observe recently, the level of crisis and agitations are on the increase. While we fight insurgence, I would advise that we also should find the cause of this agitation.

“Agitation comes up when people are not happy and the whole essence of life is to be happy. For this reason, I advice that the Air Force too, just like what I have done recently, which most people didn’t understand, should create a department for Happiness and Purpose Fulfillment.

“This will help to address the need of even junior officers, who may have some forms of dissatisfaction in the discharge of their duties.

“Sometimes, you may think that they are happy when they are not and this sabotages the efforts of the Federal Government,” the governor counselled.

“In Imo State, we have introduced the Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfillment.

“I urge the Air Force to emulate what we are doing in Imo State to let everyone have a sense of belonging,” Okorocha added.

In his remarks, Akpasa commended Okorocha for what he termed “the tremendous transformation” of Imo state by his administration.

He disclosed that their visit was for a familiarization tour of the constituent security outfits established on July 3, 2017, adding that their new training ground has helped to handle insurgency in the North-East.

https://newsworth.ng/okorocha-advises-air-force-emulate-creating-happiness-department/

Newsworth

Erstwhile acting national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Uche Secondus has emerged winner of the chairmanship election of the main opposition party which held at Eagle Square, Abuja on Saturday.


Secondus defeated the consensus candidate of the South-West zone, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, and media mogul, Raymond Dokpesi, who remained in the race for the coveted position.

While Secondus coasted home to victory with 2,000 votes, Adeniran got 230 votes to place second, while Dokpesi came a distant third with 66 votes. Another aspirant, Taoheed Adedoja is reported to have got nil vote.

His victory triggered negative reaction following the purported inclusion of his name on a list which was allegedly used to rig the exercise.

Dokpesi and Adeniran who earlier stormed out of the convention ground have rejected the results and called for its cancellation following the series of allegations of bribery of delegates and irregularities. They described the process as unfair.

They both stated that delegates were given a list of candidates to support and that the organizers of the convention had become helpless.

Dokpesi had said the list which was allegedly prepared by some governors was given to many delegates ahead of the convention.

He said the 21 names of candidates contained in the list appeared on the ballot papers as number one and in the voting booth as number one.

“Since we started voting about three hours ago, every delegate that is available was provided with copies of what you have here. They call it ‘Unity List’ and all the names on the list are number one in all the cubicles for voting and this is supposed to be a list prepared by the governors,” Dokpesi had said.

On his part, Adeniran called for a cancellation of the exercise, stating that Governors Nyesom Wike foisted the Unity List on delegates.

“We reject the entire electoral process. The election has been grossly compromised to achieve a predetermined end. The illegal Unity List is prepared by Governors Wike and Ayodele Fayose to foist on the entire delegates” the Director, Media and Publicity of the Adeniran Campaign, Taiwo Akeju, said last night.

Meanwhile, it is not just Dokpesi and Adeniran who lamented the situation, many others complained, with a delegate who spoke next to Dokpesi at a press conference late Saturday, calling for the “burial” of the PDP.

“Let’s just call for a casket and bury the party,” he had said in anger.

Secondus, who was once the party’s organising secretary, deputy national chairman, got the strong backing of the 11 governors elected on the platform of the party, as they stood in solidarity with him throughout the exercise.

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state and his Ekiti state counterpart, Ayodele Fayose, openly mobilised support for the new party chairman.

https://newsworth.ng/pdp-chairmanship-secondus-sweeps-votes-dokpesi-adeniran-reject-results/

The Nigerian Army has debunked a report in the social media that the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Tukur Buratai, was injured in a purported ambush by Boko Haram terrorists at an undisclosed location in the North-East while on his way to visit troops.


Stressing that the Army chief was not a victim of any ambush, the Army spokesman, Sani Usman, held in a statement issued on Saturday that there was no ambush against soldiers anywhere else let alone in the North-East. He advised members of the public to “disregard the ambush story as it is fake”.

Read more here:

https://newsworth.ng/buratai-not-wounded-ambush-boko-haram-terrorists-army/

Nigeria’s former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has informed of how his “international friends” were ready to free him from the Yola prisons in commando-style, after he was locked up by the late maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha.


Newsworth recalls that the Abacha military junta had jailed Obasanjo and his deputy as military head of state from 1976-1979, Maj-Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua (retd), from 1995 for allegedly plotting a phantom coup to oust the dark-goggled General, who died in office in 1998.

Obasanjo and Yar’Adua were handed the death penalty but their sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment. While Yar’Adua was allegedly poisoned to death in Abakaliki, Obasanjo was released in 1998 by the Abdulsalami Abubakar regime and he proceeded to be elected twice as president from 1999 to 2007.

Speaking on Friday at the 20th anniversary of Yar’Adua’s death, the ex-president disclosed that when he was jailed, “some of my international friends sent a message that they were ready to storm the Yola prisons and rescue me in a helicopter and take me to safety in Cameroon, but I said no, if you do that I will not leave the prison”.

“When I learnt that Shehu was first arrested I asked Abacha. He said he was not aware. I said it is not possible for a former No 2 to be arrested without the knowledge of the current No 1. Thereafter, Shehu was released.

“Later, Shehu was arrested again. I was also arrested. We were detained at different locations and we never got to see again until we were sentenced. We thereafter met at Kirikiri maximum prisons.

”It was a mistake to allow us to be together again. There at Kirikiri, we discussed at length. We strategised on Nigeria. Unfortunately, he died in prison and he could not fulfill his dreams for the country in his lifetime,” Obasanjo said.

https://newsworth.ng/obasanjo-recounts-rejected-international-friends-effort-free-prison-commando-style/

The Federal Civil Service Commission of Nigeria, FCSC, has debunked widespread report that it has announced a mass recruitment into some Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs.


Reports were rife on Thursday that the federal government has announced recruitment into
ministries including: the Ministry of Information, Ministry of Environment; Ministry of Justice; Ministry of Trade and Investments; and Bureau of Public Procurement.

The purported statement had directed all qualified Nigerians who currently hold OND, HND, BA/BSc to apply on the commission’s website.

Read more here:

https://newsworth.ng/fg-denies-announcing-recruitment-into-ministries/

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NBS: 11 people died daily in Nigerian road crashes between July and September
By Newsworth - December 6, 201707


Data released on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, has shown that an average of 11 persons died everyday in Nigerian road accidents between July 1 and September 30 this year.


It also revealed that a total of 6,803 Nigerians sustained injury from the accidents.



The Road Transport Data for Third Quarter, 2017 posted on the NBS website on Wednesday indicated that 981 of the 1,070 Nigerians that died, representing 91.7 per cent of the figure, were adults while the remaining 89 Nigerians, representing 8.3 per cent of the figure were children.



The breakdown of the figure showed that 815 of those lost to road crashes within the period were males, representing 76.2 per cent while 255 were females, representing 23.8 per cent.



According to the report, 2,478 cases of road accidents occurred in the third quarter, identifying the major cause as speed violation, which it said accounted for 44.51 per cent of the total accidents reported in the quarter.


Read more here:

https://newsworth.ng/nbs-11-people-died-daily-nigerian-road-crashes-july-september/

President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the Senate seeking the confirmation of the appointment of Mr. Anthony Ojukwu as executive secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC.

The lettter read in part, “In accordance with provisions of Section 8 of the National Human Rights Commission Act 2010, I have the pleasure to present Mr. Anthony Okechukwu Ojukwu for confirmation as the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission by the Senate.”