A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Bwari, Abuja has voided the participation of Senator Ademola Adeleke of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the last governorship election in Osun State.

Justice Othman Musa, in a judgment on Tuesday, annulled Adeleke’s nomination as candidate of the PDP on the grounds that Adeleke offended section 177 of the 1999 constitution as amended.

“The section states that candidates for the position of governor must be educated up to secondary school level.

Justice Musa said while the court’s findings showed that Adeleke entered secondary school in 1976, there was no record showing that he (Adeleke) actually graduated.

The judge said Adeleke’s name was no longer seen in the school’s register from 1980.

Read more details here: http://areanews.ng/breaking-high-court-voids-adelekes-participation-in-osun-gov-poll/

President Muhannadu Buhari has said that, Nigeria is still facing the challenge of feeding itself and providing raw materials for industries through agriculture.

President Buhari who stated this on Saturday at the opening of the 40th Kaduna International Trade Fair, however said that, the challenge remains, despite agriculture contributing 25.5 per cent of the Nigeria’s GDP and 50 per cent of its labour force.

Kaduna International Trade Fair is a 10-day an annual event organised by the Kaduna Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA), where both local and international business ideas and inventions are showcased.

Represented at the occasion by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Okechukwu Enelama, the President however identified creation of a strong linkage between agriculture and industry as a sure way of bringing about sustainable growth by creating new jobs, improving value addition.

Read more details here: http://areanews.ng/nextlevel-nigeria-still-cant-feed-itself-says-buhari/

President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Abuja assured Christian leaders in the country of his commitment to leave Nigeria better than he met it in 2015.

Receiving the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) led by Samson Ayokunle, the president of the association, Mr Buhari said his administration will continue to address important national challenges, including security, economy and corruption.

The CAN leadership had earlier told State House correspondents that they were at the State House to congratulate Mr Buhari on his re-election.

A statement by Mr Buhari’s spokesperson, Feni Adesina, said the president told the delegation that the outcome of the just concluded polls underscores the trust Nigerians have in the present leadership in the country.

‘‘We will continue to strive for peaceful co-existence among all Nigerians irrespective of their religious beliefs.

‘‘In the area of allocation of political offices, our focus will be on merit and national spread such that every part of Nigeria will have a sense of belonging.

‘‘We remain resolute in the fight against terrorism and insurgency, and efforts to bring back all those in captivity and other victims of kidnappings will be intensified,’’ Mr Buhari said.

Commending the important roles religious bodies have played in the last four years of the administration, the president pledged to continue supporting several programmes anchored by the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), geared towards peace, tolerance, unity and harmony in the country.

In his congratulatory message, the CAN president prayed God to grant Mr Buhari ‘‘everything it takes to perform hundred times better than’’ his first term, stressing that the organisation had the success of this administration at heart.


President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Abuja assured Christian leaders in the country of his commitment to leave Nigeria better than he met it in 2015.

Receiving the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) led by Samson Ayokunle, the president of the association, Mr Buhari said his administration will continue to address important national challenges, including security, economy and corruption.

The CAN leadership had earlier told State House correspondents that they were at the State House to congratulate Mr Buhari on his re-election.

A statement by Mr Buhari’s spokesperson, Feni Adesina, said the president told the delegation that the outcome of the just concluded polls underscores the trust Nigerians have in the present leadership in the country.

‘‘We will continue to strive for peaceful co-existence among all Nigerians irrespective of their religious beliefs.

‘‘In the area of allocation of political offices, our focus will be on merit and national spread such that every part of Nigeria will have a sense of belonging.

‘‘We remain resolute in the fight against terrorism and insurgency, and efforts to bring back all those in captivity and other victims of kidnappings will be intensified,’’ Mr Buhari said.

Commending the important roles religious bodies have played in the last four years of the administration, the president pledged to continue supporting several programmes anchored by the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), geared towards peace, tolerance, unity and harmony in the country.

In his congratulatory message, the CAN president prayed God to grant Mr Buhari ‘‘everything it takes to perform hundred times better than’’ his first term, stressing that the organisation had the success of this administration at heart.

Mr Ayokunle welcomed the president’s pledge to run an inclusive government in a speech shortly after his re-election, noting that the gesture would give all in the country a sense of belonging.

The leadership of the Christian body in Nigeria also called for ethnic and religious balance in the selection of leadership of the ninth National Assembly.

While appealing to the president to task security agencies to be more proactive in their duties, the CAN leader made a passionate request for deliberate and relentless efforts to free Leah Sharibu, other Chibok girls and Nigerians in captivity of insurgents.

http://areanews.ng/i-promise-to-leave-nigeria-better-than-i-met-it-in-2015-buhari-tells-christian-leaders/

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Hajia Aishat Buhari and Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo.

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PDP’s Fintiri Unseats Incumbent APC Governor Bindow In Adamawa

To emerge victor, FIntiri polled a total of 376,552 votes to beat Jibrilla Bindow, incumbent Governor and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who secured 336,386 votes, amounting to a margin of 40,166.

http://areanews.ng/pdps-fintiri-unseats-incumbent-apc-governor-bindow-in-adamawa/

Muhamadu Buhari swore on oath and delivered affidavit to INEC claiming he attended Elementary School Daura and Mai Aduaa between 1948 and 1952.

Now, Atiku informs the court that those schools were not in existence between 1948 and 1952 and therefore Muhamadu Buhari could not have attended either school.

That’s a serious charge sounding in perjury punishable by 14 years imprisonment under the Penal Code, besides being punishable under the 1999 Constitution, if proved, by immediate disqualification with consequent voiding of all votes cast for Muhamadu Buhari at last month’s presidential election, because a disqualified candidate is not entitled to be credited with any vote.

Ditto, Muhammadu Buhari swore on oath that he attended Middle School Katsina between 1953 and 1956.

But now Atiku deposes on court papers at the Election Tribunal that the middle school was also not in existence as at 1953 and up till 1956.

This charge squarely makes out a case of serial forgery, if proved by archival materials in the possession of Atiku.

Finally, Muhammadu Buhari swore on oath he attended Katsina Provincial College between 1956 and 1961, which Atiku disclaims by asserting contrarily that the Katsina provinicial college was not built, founded, operational or even in existence between 1956 and 1961.

If Atiku proves this serial fraud with conclusive evidence, Muhamadu Buhari will have no answer in rebuttal than throw in the towel and plead for leniency.

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Hajia Aishat Buhari and Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo.

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Acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu has explained why the Police are not efficient as they should be.

Adamu spoke before the House Committee on Police Affairs yesterday while defending the Force’s 2019 Budget proposal, as well as reflecting on the performance and challenges experienced with the implementation of the 2018 Appropriation.

According to him, as the lead agency of government responsible for protection of life and property, “at every turn, I am confronted with the issue of inadequate funding.”

The Police boss said: “The Nigeria Police Force which I command today, is a pivotal organ of government and the lead agency in internal security with a strength of 301,737 personnel (made up of Police, Traffic Wardens and Civilian Staff) as at 15th January 2019.

“It is stationed across the Federation (the Force Headquarters, 12 Zones, 37 States including the FCT, 224 Area Commands, 1,401 Divisions, 1,759 Police Stations and 3,846 Police Posts).

“This strength and spread are not static but continue to grow side by side with overall national growth and development. Unfortunately, these growth and development have over the years, not received commensurate funding.”

Read more details here: http://onelgatimes.com/news/why-police-are-unproductive-by-acting-ig-adamu/

The vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 23 election, Mr Peter Obi, has described last Saturday’s governorship supplementary election in Kano as scandalous and the height of brigandage.

The conduct of the election, Obi said, was akin to giving official license that could motivate Nigerians into violent acts and thereby destroying the country’s youths.

In a statement Monday by his media office, Obi said what all democratic watchers saw in Kano state rerun election, amounted to licensing our youths for violence, and setting a very dangerous precedent.

He said, “We are now institutionalizing thuggery and rigging as process of coming into power, which is very dangerous precedent for our country”.

Read more details here: http://onelgatimes.com/politics/just-in-kano-supplementary-poll-license-to-violence-obi/

…Asks Saraki, Dogara to throw open NASS spending to public

The Nigerian parliament secretly spent over N1.752 trillion in 17 years, a civil society organisation, which deals with budgeting and open governance, has said.

The group, BudgIT, released the figure in a statement it made available to Vanguard on Wednesday with a breakdown of the cash the National Assembly had allocated and spent between 2003 and 2019. The organisation however blasted the NASS for operating the budget in an opaque manner despite its claim to open governance and public pressure for it to open up its book for Nigerians to scrutinize the line items.

The group is shocked that the NASS, whose budget was a mere N23.5 billion in 2003 astronomically rose to N55.5 in 2005 and climbed to N150 billion in 2011 and maintained the same amount till 2014. BudgIT also wondered how the same NASS that had been spending N150 billion yearly was able to ‘manage’ a reduced appropriation of N115 billion between 2015 and 2016 and finally came down to N125 billion in 2017, N135 billion in 2018 and N125 billion in 2019.


Read more details here: http://zoxnews.com/nigeria/how-nass-secretly-spent-n1-752-trillion-in-17-years-budgit/

The TraderMoni scheme, other Government Enterprise and Empowerment micro-credit products (MarketMoni and FarmerMoni), a component of the Buhari administration’s Social Investment Programme are still very much in operation, the Presidency has said.

Mr Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo disclosed this in a progress report on GEEP made available to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

He said that contrary to speculations in some quarters, the micro-credit schemes have not stopped, as 30,000 petty traders had received TraderMoni loans after elections.

Akande said that with repayments, some of the initial beneficiaries have started collecting second improved loans of N15, 000.

Read more details here: http://zoxnews.com/nigeria/next-level-tradermoni-still-in-operation-presidency/

The Chairman of the Code of Conduct of Tribunal, Danladi Umar, threatened to imprison journalists who misrepresent the ongoing proceedings on the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

“The journalist will languish there (prison) and may remain there until I retire – that is about 28 years from now.

“The person will be summarily sent to prison because that is contempt.

“It does not matter whether the contempt is committed in facie curiae (before the court) or ex facie curiae (outside the court).”

Continue reading here: http://zoxnews.com/nigeria/cct-chairman-threatens-journalists-who-misrepresent-onnoghens-trial-with-28-years-imprisonment/

Source: www.zoxnews.com

Amaechi’s candidate loses bid to stop announcement of results in Rivers

An injunction requested to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission from further action on the Rivers State elections has been declined by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The African Action Congress and its governorship candidate in Rivers State, Biokpomabo Awara, sought the restraining injunction through an ex parte application.

Mr Awara’s candidacy is strongly backed by the transport minister, Rotimi Amaechi, who took the action after the Supreme Court barred the All Progressives Congress from fielding candidates in Rivers.

Ruling on the application on Wednesday, the judge, Inyang Ekwo, refused to grant the prayer. Instead, Mr Ekwo asked the AAC and Mr Awara to put INEC on notice to show cause why the prayer should not be granted.

Continue reading >>>http://zoxnews.com/nigeria/amaechis-candidate-loses-bid-to-stop-announcement-of-results-in-rivers/

Atiku, PDP: INEC’s server shows we beat Buhari with 1.6 million votes

…file five grounds petition, revisit alleged certificate scam against President

Some details of the petition filed on Monday by the Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate in the February 23 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to challenge the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress, emerged on Tuesday.

The petition, which sought to rely on 50 sets of documents, was filed before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja against the Independent National Electoral Commission, Buhari and the APC as the first to the third respondents, respectively.

INEC had on February 27, 2019 declared that Buhari won the election with 15,191,847 votes to defeat Atiku, whom it said polled 11,262,978 votes.

But the petitioners stated in their 139-page petition that “from the data in the 1st respondent’s (INEC’s) server…the true, actual and correct results” from “state to state computation” showed that Atiku polled a total of 18,356,732 votes to defeat Buhari whom they said scored 16,741,430 votes.

They said the results were the total votes scored by the candidates in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, as there was “no report on sever” about the results from Rivers State as of February 25, 2019.

By this, Atiku claims to have defeated Buhari with 1,615,302 votes.

One of the five grounds of the petition also tends to resuscitate the allegation that Buhari was not qualified to run for the office of the President on the grounds that he did not possess the constitutional minimum qualification of a school certificate.


Continue read >>> http://areanews.ng/?p=7003

Atiku asks tribunal to sack Buhari, declare him winner

“We have a pool of 20 SANs who are tested in election petition matters and other senior lawyers who are also working with them. So we are confident.

“We have also lined up more than 400 witnesses that are going to testify in this petition. “Nigerians are at home with what happened on February 23, the sham they called election. We are going to re-present those facts to Nigerians, we are not going to manufacture facts”, he added.

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Acting CJN Tanko reveals when he’ll step aside, says Onnoghen remains Chief Just


The Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, ACJN, Justice Tanko Muhammad, has said that suspended Justice Walter Onnoghen, remains the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Muhammad said he would step aside once the Code of Conduct Tribunal or the Appeal Court reverses Onnoghen’s matter.

He, however, claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari does not need the permission of the National Judicial Council, NJC, to appoint an acting Chief Justice of Nigeria.

This was part of Justice Muhammad’s response to a query given to him by the NJC.

Justice Muhammad pointed out that the NJC ought to be consulted only when a substantive CJN is being appointed or re-appointed.

He said, “In my respectful view, the National Judicial Council has no role to play in the appointment of an acting Chief Justice of Nigeria in the first instance, that is to say on first appointment.

“The council comes in where the appointment as the acting CJN is to be renewed or extended. I humbly refer to Section 231(4) of the 1999 Constitution.


“It was for the larger interest of the judiciary and the constitutionality that I accepted to be sworn in as acting CJN with the conviction that if the order of January 23, 2019 is eventually set aside, the status quo would be restored.

“But before it is set aside, there should be no vacuum in the office of the CJN and the chairman of the NJC.

Read more details here: http://areanews.ng/?p=6855

Manipulation of election results goes against everything Buhari stands for, INEC is completely in charge – says Presidency

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, also noted that some past Presidents of Nigeria were known to interfere in inconclusive elections.

This, he said, was the reason why party members appeared to be upset that the same thing is not happening now.

He added “But President Buhari is a different kind of leader. He swore to defend the constitution and will not veer off from that.

“The constitution of Nigeria gives the President no such powers. It is unfair and ridiculous to criticise President Buhari for not going against the constitution.

“Party members in states where there will be supplementary elections then need to be reminded that they need to work hard to earn their people’s votes, rather than expect President Buhari to manipulate INEC in their favour.

“Interestingly, while members of the ruling APC party were criticising the President for not interfering on their behalf, members of the opposition were condemning the President based on their assumptions that he would definitely interfere, as many in the opposition did while in power.

“Under President Buhari, INEC had been and will be completely independent throughout the elections, free from any interference.

“President Buhari is a man of conviction, and the manipulation of election results goes against everything he stands for. INEC is completely in charge.” he stated


Read more details here: http://areanews.ng/?p=6781

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has continued to come under attack over the sudden change in its earlier decision to reject the result of the governorship election in Tafawa Balewa local government area of Bauchi state.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Yekini Nabena, said the decision was a form of conspiracy against the APC, describing it as a evil plot which will not be allowed.

Nabena who is also the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party said the governing party will not accept such a decision as it contravene the provisions of the electoral act.

Read more: http://areanews.ng/?p=6775

Civil society groups in Akwa Ibom State have said that both the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and the All Progressives Congress(APC) were involved in massive electoral fraud during the just concluded general elections in the state.

In fact, they said the February 23 and March 9 presidential/National and governorship/state house of assembly elections in the state were characterized by voter inducement and intimidation.

Chairman Civil Societies Forum in Akwa Ibom, Mr. Harry Udoh, who disclosed this to the Nation in a telephone interview at the weekend, said voters in the state were heavily induced and harassed by the two foremost political parties in both elections.

According to Udoh, findings indicate that the two political parties had started buying votes since December last year.

”Now if you ask me if people were induced or if there was vote buying, i will say yes even though i can’t substantiate it. The strategy was such that, I think from December, they had started buying peoples minds.

”The massive voters intimidation and votes buying were perpetrated by both parties. Nobody can change my mind on that. Perhaps the party with the biggest amount of money got the day but people went to the polling units and voted.

Read more details here: http://areanews.ng/?p=6769

Yakubu, INEC chairman denies Atiku access to election materials, PDP alleges

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday accused the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, of refusing the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar access to election materials.

The Court of Appeal had ordered INEC to allow Atiku’s lawyers inspect ballot materials used in the February 23 presidential election, in furtherance of the petition filed by the PDP candidate against President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election.

However, in a statement by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP said Yakubu and the leadership INEC have refused to obey the order of the appellate court, given on March 6, 2019.

Read more details here: http://areanews.ng/?p=6679

Debunked: London buses ads on Bukola Saraki are fake

Videos which claim to show adverts on London buses calling for the imprisonment of Nigeria’s departing Senate president Bukola Saraki have together racked up more than 130,000 views on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

But the videos have been digitally altered to add the advertising, and London’s transport authority confirmed that no such advertisements are running on its buses.

The first video, posted by a Facebook group named “Kwarans”, has been shared more than 8,600 times and viewed by at least 109,000 people since it was uploaded on March 11 with the caption “Jail Bukola Saraki Buses Appear on London streets”. You can find an archived version here.

Read more here: http://areanews.ng/?p=6540

My husband sleeps with our daughters, Also impregnated My sister- wife Tells court

My husband sleeps with our daughters, Also impregnated My sister- wife Tells court

A 63- year-old businesswoman, Mrs Mabel Alli, on Friday prayed an Igando Customary Court in Lagos, to end her 41-year-old marriage to husband, Richard, allegeding that he sleeps with their daughters and has impregnated her sister.

She told the court that her husband sexually molested all their three daughters and was a womaniser.

“After impregnating my sister, he took one of our daughters to the hospital to have an abortion.

Read more details here: http://areanews.ng/?p=6509

Just In: BBC mocks Gov. Okorocha as he erects Buhari-like statue in Owerri

BBC News has mocked the Governor of Imo State, Chief Rochas Okorocha, for erecting a President Muhammadu Buhari-like statue in Owerri, the state capital.
Sharing the photos on its Facebook page, the British medium wondered if the governor was never tired of erecting statues.

Read more details here: http://areanews.ng/?p=6505

End of AIDS in sight in Nigeria, says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said that the end of the spread of Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is in sight in Nigeria.
He made the remark during the announcement of the result of the Nigeria AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) at the old Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.

He urged the various agencies and partners to work together collectively towards pushing out the last aspect of the disease in Nigeria.
He said “Today is a critical turning point in Nigeria for a HIV epidemic that has killed many of our countrymen and women. The end of AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 is truly in sight for our country. Let us therefore work collectively and “push for the last mile.”

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Court restrains INEC from conducting supplementary gov’ship election

A state high court in Yola has barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from conducting the supplementary governorship election for which it scheduled March 23 in Adamawa State.

The Adamawa State High Court, presided by Justice Abdulaziz Waziri, granted an interim injunction barring INEC from conducting the supplementary polls in the 44 polling units where voting either did not hold during the March 9 governorship election or was cancelled
The high court judgement was sequel to a suit filed by the governorship candidate of the Movement for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRRD), Rev Eric Theman, who questioned non-inclusion of his party logo for the governorship election by INEC.

Read more: http://areanews.ng/?p=6421

Breaking: Outage hits Facebook, Instagram users worldwide

Facebook and Instagram users lost access to the social network’s applications in parts of the world Wednesday as a result of an outage of undetermined origin.

The California giant which has more than two billion users acknowledged the outage after users noted on Twitter they could not access Facebook or had limited functionality.

“We’re aware that some people are currently having trouble accessing the Facebook family of apps. We’re working to resolve the issue as soon as possible,” a Facebook statement said on Twitter.

A short time later, Facebook indicated the outage was not related to an attack aimed at overwhelming the network.

“We’re focused on working to resolve the issue as soon as possible, but can confirm that the issue is not related to a DDoS attack,” Facebook said, referring to what is known as a distributed denial of service cyber strike.

Read more details here: http://areanews.ng/?p=6387

Breaking: Goat Elected As ‘Mayor’ In Us

As mayor, Lincoln will be expected to attend local and major events, including the Memorial Day parade, for which he’ll wear a custom sash.

Read more details here: http://areanews.ng/?p=6173

Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) has threatened to drag certain politicians in Enugu state to court over wild allegations made against the commission during the 2019 general elections.

INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner for Enugu, Dr Emeka Ononamadu who said this during a post-election media briefing at INEC office Enugu on Tuesday warned that INEC was not ready to condone reckless allegations that cast aspersions on the electoral process.

He said: “Although, certain political groups effortlessly tried to falsely label INEC, security agencies and Central Bank in an attempt to find one way or the other to scuttle the process, the maturity exhibited by citizens was enough to send their plans to the cleaners.

“INEC and its staff also have a name to protect; we are not going to tolerate reckless allegations that can cast aspersion on our democracy and electoral process. We are moving towards a direction when nobody will get away with any unsubstantiated allegation that rubs off on the credibility of an election.”

Read more details here: http://areanews.ng/?p=6171

“God was drinking beer so he couldn’t save those who perished in the Plane crash” – Ghanaian atheist

Popular Ghanaian atheist, Chris Vincent has questioned why God failed to save any of the 157 people who perished in the Ethiopian Airline crash.

Read more: http://areanews.ng/?p=6136

I promise to leave legacy of free, fair elections in Nigeria – Buhari vows

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Daura, Katsina declared that he would want to be remembered as a leader who kept his word that elections in Nigeria must be free, fair and credible.

The President spoke while receiving Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, who came to formally inform him of his election victory in last Saturday’s Governorship poll.

He also commended Nigerians who heeded to his pre-election appeals to cast their votes peacefully.

Read more details here: http://areanews.ng/?p=6101

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Just In: Ballot Box Snatcher In Akwa Ibom Burnt To Death

A ballot box snatcher in Akwa Ibom state has been reportedly burnt to death by angry voters at a particular unit in the state.

Read more Details here: http://areanews.ng/?p=5809