The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), under Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, is fuelling trouble following its refusal to withdraw the 4,000 All Progressives Congress (INEC) members it secretly registered

read more https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/06/05/dont-cause-trouble-in-ekiti-osun-pdp-cautions-inec/

The Ekiti State Police Command said on Monday that the officer who fired the shots that injured former lawmaker, Opeyemi Bamideler, and five others at the campaign rally of the All Progressives Congress.

read more https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/06/04/ekiti-shooting-police-dismiss-officer-involved/

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Senate President David Mark, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and the 11 governors elected on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will be storming Ekiti State for the governorship election

read more here https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/06/04/july-14-poll-atiku-david-mark-others-storm-ekiti/

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, June 4, 2018 re-arraigned the quartet of Colonel Nicholas Ashinze, a former special assistant to the embattled former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd);

read more https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/06/04/dasukis-aide-re-arraigned-for-alleged-n3-6bn-fraud/

The Nigeria Prisons Service has confirmed a jailbreak at Minna Medium Security Prison.

The spokesperson of the prison service in Niger State, Rabiu Shuaibu, said the incident occurred on Sunday night at the prison, which is in Tunga area of Minna Metropolis.

read more at https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/06/04/two-killed-as-gunmen-attack-niger-jail-free-prisoners/

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Sunday declared that he was willing to honour the invitation of the police, once he formally receives it.

Mr Saraki also denied that he has any links to any of the robbery suspects arrested for their roles in the Offa bank robbery. The robbery caused the death of about 33 people including police officers.

read more here https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/06/03/offa-bank-robbery-saraki-speaks-on-police-summon/

The Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Saturday dismissed the claims by the police that the Friday shooting of five of its members at the rally organised for its governorship candidate, Kayode Fayemi, in Ado Ekiti, was accidental discharge.

read more at https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/06/03/ekiti-shooting-apc-rejects-police-explanation/

Troops of 27 Task Force Battalion of Operation Lafiya Dole, on a long range fighting patrol, successfully conducted a raid operation on Boko Haram camp in Yaridiri forest in Geidam Local Government Area of Yobe state.

read more at https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/06/03/troops-recover-over-n2m-cash-other-items-from-fleeing-boko-haram-terrorist/

The family of the late former senate president, Dr Chuba Okadigbo, has been thrown into mourning following the demise of his son, Obinna. He died in the United States of America where he was residing from a cold related ailment. Former media aide to Okadigbo, Dr James Okoroma, confirmed the death.

Read more https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/06/03/son-of-late-former-senate-president-chuba-okadigbo-dies-in-u-s/

Former House of Representatives member, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, is now in stable condition after he was shot by a policeman on Friday.

The Mobile Policeman (MOPOL) shot Bamidele and five other All Progressives Congress

read more https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/06/02/ekiti-shooting-bamidele-in-stable-condition/

ustice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Friday, June 1, 2018, adjourned to June 21, 2018 for ruling on a no-case submission filed

Read more https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/06/02/fraud-court-adjourns-ruling-on-ex-perm-sec-onubuogos-no-case-submission/

The senatorial ambition of the immediate past Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, continues to gain strength as the Omu of Anioma Kingdom,

READ MORE https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/06/02/uduaghans-senatorial-ambition-settled-by-god-says-omu-of-anioma-kingdom/

The secretary of the National Convention Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Benjamin Uwajumogu has resigned his appointment.

read more https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/06/02/apc-convention-committee-secretary-sen-uwajumogu-resigns/

India’s The Hindu newspaper has reported the death of three Nigerians in a rented accommodation in Uttam Nagar area of New Delhi.

The Nigerians were found dead on Friday, with the police recovering bottles of alcohol and soft drinks from the spot. The Times of India said all the three men were found frothing in the mouth.

read more here https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/06/02/3-nigerians-found-dead-in-new-delhi-flat/

…commissions Ekiti State Governor’s Office

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that Nigeria is sliding into anarchy because of the poor governance style of the APC Federal Government

Commissioning the newly constructed Governor’s Office in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State on Friday

read more at https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/05/26/nigeria-is-sliding-into-anarchy-says-governor-wike/

Following representations made by some civil society groups, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has set machinery in motion to probe the controversy surrounding the $16 billion allegedly spent on power projects during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The anti-graft agency may invite two ex-ministers, former top.

read full story here https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/05/26/16bn-power-projects-efcc-begins-probe-of-suspects/

The Federal Government has declared Tuesday, May 29, as a public holiday to enable Nigerians to celebrate the country’s Democracy Day.

The Ministry of Interior disclosed the decision in a statement by its Permanent Secretary, Dr Muhammed Umar, on Friday.

read more at https://www.newdiplomatng.com/2018/05/25/democracy-day-fg-declares-tuesday-public-holiday/

July 11, 1767, John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, was born in Braintree, Massachusetts.

On this date:

In 1798, the U.S. Marine Corps was formally re-established by a congressional act that also created the U.S. Marine Band.

In 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounded former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton during a pistol duel in Weehawken, New Jersey. (Hamilton died the next day.)

read more at https://www.newdiplomatng.com/news/today-history-john-quincy-adams-6th-us-president-born/

Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been confirmed killed, war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has said.

“(We have) confirmed information from leaders, including one of the first rank, in [Isis territory] in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor,” director of the UK-based group Rami Abdulrahman told Reuters on Tuesday.

There has been no confirmation from Isis’ official news agency Amaq. SOHR’s sources did not say when Baghdadi supposedly died, or how.

US, Kurdish and Iraqi sources were all quick to say they could not corroborate the SOHR report.
“We take any report of this nature with a large dose of salt,” Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to US President Donald Trump, said in an interview with Fox News after the SOHR claim surfaced.

read more at: https://www.newdiplomatng.com/headline/isis-leader/

An American tourist was beaten to death by a group of 10 men while visiting a Greek island in the Mediterranean, state media reported..

Bakari Henderson, 22, was at a bar in the Greek island of Zakynthos with his friends Friday when a man approached him and they began fighting, according to state news agency ANA-MPA.
The fight escalated into a brawl on the streets after the bar’s security asked the men to leave, ANA-MPA reported.
Two people, a 32-year-old Serbian and a 34-year-old Greek national, have been arrested. Police are searching for others who may be involved.
Zakynthos, an island in the west coast of mainland Greece, is popular among tourists for its cliffside beaches and sea caves.
“Greek police in Zakynthos notified the US Embassy of the death of a US citizen in the early morning hours of Friday,” the US State Department said in a statement.


Read more at https://www.newdiplomatng.com/news/20418/

May Implicate Some Serving Govs, Others
By The New Diplomat Economic Intelligence Desk

Fresh revelations have emerged as to how a former Business ally of controversial former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, Jide Omokore who is standing trial for nine count charges, alleged criminal diversion of about $1.6bn alleged to be part of proceeds of the sales of petroleum products belonging to the Federal Government which he and companies belonging to him failed to remit to the coffers of the Federal government as required by law, allegedly funded elections in about six states of the federation in 2015.

The New Diplomat investigations show that Jide Omokore who is the chairman of Atlantic Energy Brass Development Company Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Limited was said to have deployed enormous funds to fund the political campaigns of some frontline governorship aspirants drawn from both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) in six states of the federation allegedly under the directive of Diezani. Sources revealed that the governorship aspirants are from Kogi, Cross River, Delta and Rivers. The New Diplomat gathered that Omokore had used these funds to back some of these top contenders who were still battling to secure Parties nominations in these various states at that time.


read more at https://www.newdiplomatng.com/energy/n510bn-oil-scam-diezanis-ally-omokore-funded-polls-in-6-states/

Belgian international striker Romelu Lukaku is set to join Manchester United for a reported £75 million, a record fee between British clubs, after the buying club announced Saturday they had reached agreement with Everton.
The 24-year-old’s signing which includes £15m in add-ons represents a coup for United and their manager Jose Mourinho whose former club Chelsea had earmarked him as their top striking target for the close season.

Going in the opposite direction could well be United and England record goalscorer Wayne Rooney, who according to press reports is willing to take a cut in his £13 million a year wages to return to his first club, but with the promise of more first team football than at United last year.

However, the 31-year-old’s move, if it takes place, is not part of the Lukaku deal, according to reports, and United are willing to let him go on a free transfer despite having a year left on his contract.

It brings Mourinho and Lukaku back together again as the Portuguese manager in his second spell as Chelsea manager had sold him to Everton in 2014 for £28 million.

United said in a statement it was “delighted to announce a fee has been agreed with Everton for the transfer of Romelu Lukaku, subject to a medical & personal terms.

“A further announcement will be made in due course,” added United.

read more at https://www.newdiplomatng.com/news/united-confirms-lukaku-deal/

Hundreds Of Arhitects Denied License To Practice
As NIA Says ARCON Seeks To Usurp Its Powers
‘I Cannot Be Intimidated By Allegations’ – ARCON President
Fashola Accused Of Complacency Over Feud
By ‘Dotun Akintomide

As the registration war between the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) and Architect Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) continues, over who is qualified to carry out pre-registration evaluation for Architects in the country, Nigerian Architects have been thrown into a state of quandary forcing them to sit on a precipice following the issuance of two counter-directives by both bodies at the peak of the practice and regulation of architecture in the country.

Private investigation by the The New Diplomat reveals that the registration saga which borders on who has the statutory powers to evaluate and register would-be professional Architects in the country has been in the cooler for a while now, until a recent directive advertised in the Guardian Newspaper of Monday June 5, 2017, page 46 by ARCON asking Architects seeking license to practice as registered Architects in Nigeria to apply for a certain Architects Competence Programme (ACP 1.0), a directive seen by the Institute, as an affront and encroachment on its statutory functions and responsibilities as the body saddled with the evaluation of Architects in the country as part of registration and licensing process.

Read more: https://www.newdiplomatng.com/business/exclusive-architects-in-crisis-as-nia-arcon-registration-war-gets-messier/

A son of the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru has been buried in Dubai after dying during a hike in Dubai .

Mohammed Kawu Baru was an 18-year-old 1st-year Architecture student at American University, Sharjah. He collapsed and died while on University organized hiking exercise in Fujairah on Thursday. He’s since been buried at the Sharjah Emirates Cemetery. The father, Maikanti Baru, GMD NNPC, accompanied by Ambassador Nura Rimi and hundreds of members of the Nigerian community in UAE, attended the burial.

Read Nore at https://www.newdiplomatng.com/headline/nnpc-gmd-dr-maikanti-baru-buries-son-dubai/

…DG NEMA MEETS STAKEHOLDERS

Three male suicide bombers attempted to enter some locations in the University of Maiduguri at early hours of today, but the vigilant University’s Security and Vigilantes intercepted them. Immediately they detonated their explosives strapped in them and that led to injure of the two University’s security and two vigilantes.

Read More at https://www.newdiplomatng.com/headline/three-suicide-bombers-dead-four-injure/

A former Governor of Rivers State and serving Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, has charged supporters of the All Progressives Congress in the state to match their Peoples Democratic Party counterparts with force as the two parties prepare for rerun polls on Saturday.

“This Is what I called “elections of our lives,” said Mr. Amaechi addressing supporters during APC’s mega rally in Port Harcourt on Thursday.

The rally witnessed presence of APC leaders, including Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun, 12 governors and federal lawmakers.

Speaking further, Mr. Amaechi, said, “I used to tell you” please don’t fight”. But I think we will bend it a beat.

“Don’t kill anybody but don’t be killed. My friend in the army told me if bullet is fired, the person that hears the sound is not the one that dies.

“If you allow them to shoot you, you will die. It’s not only them that have rights to life.”

Following court rulings that invalidated 2015 National Assembly and State House elections in the oil-rich State, the Independent National Electoral Commission had earlier conducted rerun polls on March 19.

But the exercise was marred by violence, forcing INEC to suspend the elections- now to be held on Saturday.

The Saturday rerun elections will hold across three senatorial districts, eight federal constituencies and 10 state constituencies.

But the rhetoric from both APC and PDP leaders have heat up the build-up to the rescheduled elections, raising fears of electoral violence again.

Read more at https://newdiplomat.ng/news/rivers-re-run-retaliate-attack-call-elections-lives-amaechi-charges-apc-supporters/

A former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Humphrey Asobie, on Thursday advised the anti-corruption agencies to be holistic and go for the ‘big fishes’ in the fight against corruption.

Mr. Asobie, who was the chairman of the board of the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, NEITI, made this call while speaking as the guest speaker at the International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD) 2016 round-table discussion hosted by the United States Embassy.

The discussion had the theme “Corruption: an impediment to the sustainable development goals”.

Mr. Asobie suggested the use of “shock therapy” and “bing bang strategy” in the fight against corruption, stressing that the most important personalities should be taken in.

“Pick OBJ, IBB, (Rotimi) Amaechi, (Bola) Tinubu, Abdulsalami (Abubakar) and Raji (Fashola). They will all think you are mad when you say it,” the professor of Political Science at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, said.

OBJ is the popular name for former President Olusegun Obasanjo while IBB refers to former military ruler, Ibrahim Babangida. Like others mentioned by the don, the former Nigerian leaders have been accused of corruption while in office.

“Corruption is systemic in Nigeria; it’s not just a few certain individuals. It also includes the anti-corruption agencies, they have a problem of corruption.

Read more at https://newdiplomat.ng/news2/anti-corruption-war-arrest-key-bigwigs-obasanjo-ibb-tinubu-others-former-ASUU-president-advises/

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho lauded his players’ “beautiful football” after they overwhelmed West Ham United 4-1 to set up a League Cup semifinal date with Hull City.

United are toiling in the Premier League, where a run of four consecutive home draws has contributed to their worst start to a top-flight campaign since 1989.

But they produced some irresistible football against West Ham at Old Trafford on Wednesday, prevailing through a brace apiece from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Anthony Martial.

“I’m pleased with the goals because the performance is something that we are used to,” Mourinho told Sky Sports, before ducking his post-game press conference.

“We are playing very, very well at home and today was more of the same.

“After that goal (West Ham’s equaliser), we had 10 minutes where we felt it deeply and the players on the pitch could not hide that because West Ham’s first shot, they equalised.

“But in the second half the team got again the confidence to play and to win comfortably and play beautiful attacking football, which is something that the fans like. But we need results.”

Mourinho was not present in the dug-out, having earlier been given a one-game touchline ban for angrily booting a water bottle during United’s 1-1 draw with West Ham in the league on Sunday.

He could not be seen in the directors’ box and when asked where he had watched the game, he said it was a “secret”.

Read full story here https://newdiplomat.ng/sports/mourinho-buoyed-beautiful-united/

The agent of Mikel John Obi has finally spoken about the situation of the Nigeria international midfielder at Chelsea.

Mikel who has yet to play competitively for Chelsea this season, has reportedly attracted interest from a slew of clubs including Manchester United, Besiktas and most recently, Valencia.

The midfielder’s agent, John Ola Shittu, revealed that Mikel has had conversations with the Chelsea manager about his future.

“Obi Mikel and Antonio (Conte) have been speaking.

“The manager, club and player have been talking. So I am not in a position to tell about what they have been speaking about, in the next few weeks things should be clearer.

“We have been having meeting with a few parties who are interested in him, once we are able to agree the way forward with Chelsea, then we will take it from there,” Shittu said.

Read full story here https://newdiplomat.ng/news/mikels-agent-lifts-lid-chelsea-future/

There are strong indications that as the race towards 2019 presidential race hots up, with changing political permutations, President Muhammadu Buhari’s political strategists are looking in the direction of South East for a Vice Presidential candidate on the platform of the All Progressive Peoples Congress(APC). Investigations by The New Diplomat reveal that the President’s strategists are not assured that the South West homogeneous votes which swayed the 2015 Presidential elections for Buhari would be there to easily depend upon given the reported frosty relations between the President and a National leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who wield so much influence and standing in the entire South West politics. Tinubu is believed to be unhappy with developments in Ondo, where his preferred Gubernatorial aspirant, Mr Olusola Abraham lost to Mr Rotimi Akeredolu in a contest which Tinubu alleged was heavily masterminded and compromised by the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun. Also added to that is the similar treatment he allegedly faced in Kogi where Prince Abubakar Audu’s deputy, James Faleke was shoved aside for Governor Yahaya Bello for reasons that are largely unknown to many in the public domain.

read more at https://newdiplomat.ng/news/2019-will-buhari-turn-seast-vice-presidential-candidate/