Taraba State House of Assembly re-electsformer speaker, Rt. Hon. Mark Useni Bako, PhD, as its new speaker.The assembly has been without a substantivespeaker, following the sacking of Abel by the state election petition tribunal, which was upheld by the courtof appeal.Mark Useni, hails from Bete state constituency,Takum Local Government, where Governor Darius Ishaku, is also from


Source http://nigerianpilot.com/breaking-news-mark-useni-returns-as-taraba-speaker-again/

Former Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh (Rtd), has put arrangements in place to honour the invitation extended to him by the Economic and financial crimes Commission, EFCC, in furtherance of investigations into procurement in the Armed Forces under his watch.

Dependable sources revealed Tuesday that Chief Badeh received the EFCC invitation on Monday and he has promptly directed his personal aides to make arrangements for his visit to the Commission’s office by Wednesday morning, as requested by the ant-graft agency.

The former CDS will be visiting the EFCC from his house where he has been since he left office, to explain certain activities that were alleged to have taken place in the Armed Forces under his watch as the coordinating officer for all the arms of the Armed Forces.

According to a reliable source, Badeh has maintained a low profile in the face recent allegation. Some military sources who worked with Badeh believe that the former CDS is being deliberately framed up by people whose toes he may have stepped upon while in office.

Source http://nationaltrailonline.com.ng/2016/02/02/badeh-honours-efcc-invitation/

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has counselled President
Mohammadu Buhari to stay at home and govern the country instead of
junketing from one country to the other, saying; “foreign countries
won’t solve our problems for us and the President’s incessant foreign
trips is already bleeding the economy with about $1 million being
spent per trip.”

The governor, who said most of the trips embarked on by the President
were unnecessary, added that ministers or at best the Vice President
could have been made to attend most of the functions being attended
abroad by the President.


According to a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti by his Special Assistant
on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose
said that “the President should rather listen more to those of us
who criticise him instead of those hailing every of his wrong steps
either because of what they intend to gain or for fear of
persecution.”

Source http://nigerianpilot.com/fayose-to-buhari-unecessary-trips-bleeding-countrys-economy/

(CNN)Hillary Clinton declared victory early Tuesday morning in a razor-thin contest against Bernie Sanders in Iowa. But Democratic party officials have not yet declared a winner.

“Hillary Clinton has won the Iowa Caucus,” the Clinton campaign said. “After thorough reporting — and analysis — of results, there is no uncertainty and Secretary Clinton has clearly won the most national and state delegate


http://nigerianpilot.com/us-elections-hillary-clinton-declares-victory-in-iowa-caucus/#sthash.6z9NKsgL.dpuf

Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Monday bemoaned the state of economy of Nigeria in view of its declared 2016 budget deficit, warning against another episode of ‘Dead On Arrival’. Chief Obasanjo made the declaration at the inaugural conference of the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP), an initiative of a retired Permanent Secretary in the Communications Ministry, Dr Tunji Olaopa . Chief Obasanjo said, “This programme is coming a

- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/obasanjo-slams-fg-govs-says-governance-is-weak/#sthash.0tqfWS1J.dpuf

Rivers State government has stated that the immediate past administration of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi recorded the most uncompleted projects in the history of the state. Commissioner for Information and Communications, Dr Austin Tam-George, stated this over the weekend at a press conference in Port Harcourt. Tam-Geoege, who spoke on the sideline of the Supreme Court verdict that upheld Governor Nyesom Wike’s election, said the verdict has not only ended the battle for the soul of Rivers State, but has justified that sovereignty belongs to the people. In reiterating the resolve of the Wike-led administration to being development to the people, the commissioner stated that the Amaechi administration received over N3 trillion in revenue.

- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/amaechi-left-highest-uncompleted-projects-in-history/#sthash.vOJIAjkh.dpuf

Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has advised President Mohammadu Buhari to respect the democratic principles of separation of powers by allowing the judiciary to do its job, obey court orders and focus on proper prosecution of people accused of corruption rather than castigating the judiciary and making the arm of government to appear as the stumbling block in his fight against corruption.

The governor also urged the President to tell Nigerians the truth about the Boko Haram insurgency, saying; “They keep telling us that they have defeated Boko Haram technically while Nigerians are still being killed daily by Boko Haram, with over 100 people killed in Dalori, less than 12km to Maiduguri, Borno State capital. Isn’t it now necessary for the President to fulfill his promise of

- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/buhari-must-allow-judiciary-to-do-its-job-stop-political-persecution-fayose/#sthash.kb90U4TB.dpuf

‘There was no pronouncement that either he or others should vacate their seats’ Following the controversies that trailed last Friday’s ruling of the Supreme Court which sections of the media interpreted to mean the sacking of various lawmakers of Anambra State, excerpts of the judgement obtained weekend indicate that no such ruling or order was given by the apex court. According to the certified true copy of the judgement, - See more at:

http://nigerianpilot.com/aftermath-of-supreme-court-ruling-andy-uba-remains-senator/#sthash.6gSRd4e3.dpuf

A survivor hidden in a tree says he watched Boko Haram extremists firebomb huts and heard the screams of children among people burned to death in the latest attack by Nigeria’s homegrown Islamic extremists.
Scores of charred corpses and bodies with bullet wounds littered the streets from Saturday night’s attack on Dalori village just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram and the biggest city in the northeast, according to survivors and soldiers.

- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/boko-haram-burns-kids-alive-in-maiduguri-witness/#sthash.b0lVKK8b.dpuf

Crisis in the Kogi State House of Assembly is becoming worrisome. The recent event, where four of the key figures in the house were attacked in the heart of the capital city, Lokoja on Wednesday, is frightening. This dangerous twist in the unfolding drama may not be unconnected with the on-going crisis over the leadership struggle among the lawmakers. The latest happening has therefore, created the impression that the dust raised by the speakership tussle may turn bloody, if stakeholders fail to resolve the kernel of the issue involved. While steps were being taken - See

more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/how-power-tussle-is-tearing-kogi-lawmakers-apart/#sthash.TqraX1eR.dpuf

CBN, NIMASA, NCC , others
We are ready, says Kachikwu
NnpcThe much awaited audit of the operations and financial transactions of the nation’s cash cow, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has commenced, Nigerian Pilot can authoritatively report.
The audit is being carried out by a renowned international chattered accounting firm, PriceWaterhouse Coopers. Already, the accounting firm is examining the PPMC (Pipelines and Petroleum Marketing Company) books and records. Audit queries have already being issued to some managers to explain their roles on some ‘not-too-clear’ issues. From PPMC, the auditors would move to other subsidiaries and arms of the conglomerate.


- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/nnpc-customs-probe-begin/#sthash.lGkOsf7n.dpuf

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says it is intensifying surveillance to locate the abducted Chibok girls and other captives held by the Boko Haram terrorists in Sambisa forest

Air Vice Marshal Isiaka Amao, the Deputy Theater Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole in charge of Air Component made this known when he briefed newsmen in Maiduguri on Saturday.

Source http://nigerianpilot.com/air-force-intensifies-search-for-chibok-girls-others-in-sambisa-forest/

The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, on Saturday opened part of Goodluck Jonathan Expressway in the Central Business District to ease traffic in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Goodluck Jonathan expressway before now was known as Inner Southern Expressway (ISEX).

Bello urged the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to consider the full expansion of the Abuja-Keffi Road to 10 lanes to reduce traffic bottlenecks on that axis.

He said the expansion of road to 10 lanes with interchange bridges at critical junctions would guarantee traffic flow in and out of Abuja city from the North-East axis of the country.

Source http://nigerianpilot.com/fct-minister-inaugurates-goodluck-jonathan-expressway/

If you work for a media company long enough, you’ll find that sometimes overuse or abuse of certain words or phrases necessitates an internal ban. These days, the slow but sure creep of ’Net-speak into our stories can mean that sometimes we have to put the brakes on “bae” or sendYAASSSSS on permanent hiatus. I once had a supervisor who even declared war on exclamation points, commanding us to root out the punctuation wherever it reared its noisy head in headlines (We don’t have to shout, he argued).
And that got me thinking about how I use that pesky punctuation not just at work but IRL.
I found the answer I’d long suspected in a study cited by The Cut for its piece, “The Internet Talks Like a Woman.” Researchers found that “women most frequently used smiley faces to indicate not that they were happy, but that they were being humorous (e.g., “That was dumb of me ”).” And that gender-based style extended to exclamation points too! (Er, sorry.)

- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/the-real-reason-girls-use-exclamation-points-so-much-will-make-you-sad/#sthash.1GatOW7k.dpuf

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has disclosed that it sold more than 1 million application forms for the 2016 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, but is yet to fix date for the examination tentatively scheduled for next month (February). The board’s director of media and information, Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Lagos, adding that the number may increase by the time the sale of the forms closed on January 29.

- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/jamb-sells-1-million-utme-forms-yet-to-fix-exams-date/#sthash.qYw3ETPp.dpuf

President Buhari said that proponents of devaluation will have to work much harder to convince him that ordinary Nigerians will gain anything from it.

The President also rejected suggestions that the Central Bank of Nigeria should resume the sale of foreign exchange to Bureaux de Change (BDCs), saying that the Bureau de Change business had become a scam and a drain on the economy.



https://twitter.com/GarShehu/status/692704013662420992

Some top officials of the Civil Service have been dismissed by the Federal Government for extorting money from 400 applicants and offering them employment illegally. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the disclosure on Saturday in Lagos during a meeting with some selected On-Air-Personalities. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was part of the minister`s five-day consultations with critical stakeholders in the media industry. Mohammed said that the affected officers were on Grade Level 17 in one of the parastatals in the ministry. He said that the officers had included the names of the applicants in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel System (IPPIS) before the fraud was discovered. “The first scandal I met in one of the parastatals when I assumed office was the illegal employment of 400 people. “This scandal started with very senior officers up to level 17 in that department. “They sent out letters and text messages asking people to apply for jobs for a fee of N400, 000 and they were given letters of employment. “They did not stop there. They invited these people to go and be captured on the IPPIS and they even took cameras to hotels to get them captured. At the end of the day the bubble burst. “One of the victims told these officials, you cannot take my money and still disengage me. I have a valid letter.’’ “That is how we got to know that there is a dedicated account these people pay to. “Of course, we dismissed these officials and we even handed them over to the Police“ the minster said. Mohammed said that the incident showed how faulty the IPPIS was and how it had been compromised by unscrupulous elements.

- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/fg-sacks-top-civil-servants-over-illegal-employment-of-400-people-lai-mohammed/#sthash.MV1DVwB7.dpuf

A 22-year-old house wife, Aisha Abdullahi, was raped to death by unknown persons at her matrimonial home at Ungogo quarters, outskirt of Kano municipal. The incident, similar to one recorded at Unguwar Katsina of Ungogo local government last December, was confirmed by the Police spokesman in Kano, DSP Musa Magaji Majia.

- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/pregnant-woman-22-raped-to-death-in-kano/#sthash.k8aiuW0L.dpuf

There are strong indications that the British Police authorities are in quandary over how to pursue the alleged money laundering offence against former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, as the investigators have failed to establish any wrongdoing by the former minister. Diezani Alison-Madueke had on Thursday January 21 appeared before an investigative hearing at the Charing Cross Police Station in London as part of the investigation into an alleged money laundering offence. However, she was again granted bail by the British Police authorities on the same condition given earlier and her case was adjourned to June 21, 2016. It was gathered that the long adjournment was not unconnected to the fact that the British Police has not been able to establish any strong evidence linking her with the alleged money laundering. The immediate past Nigerian Petroleum minister had last year in an interview with publisher of Ovation magazine, Dele Momodu, vehemently denied being part of any fraud and corruption during her tenure as the Minister of Petroleum Resources under former president Goodluck Jonathan, adding that she was only being hunted by her adversaries

. - See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/british-police-in-dilemma-over-diezani/#sthash.o8iEOlTw.dpuf

Orders from above indeed

Three suicide bombers were killed after they attempted to attack Nigerian troops at a checkpoint outside the northeastern city of Maiduguri on Friday.

One of the bombers detonated her explosives when she sighted the soldiers, killing another female accomplice, Brigadier General Lucky Irabor told reporters in the city. The final one was shot by the troops as he ran toward them, he said.

While Islamist militant group Boko Haram has been beaten back from territory it held in the northeast early last year, it continues to carry out suicide bombings and hit-and-run attacks. President Muhammadu Buhari, who came to power in May 2015, has made it a priority to end the insurgency.

Source http://nigerianpilot.com/three-suicide-bombers-attack-military-check-point/

Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP yesterday described as a new law the handcuffing of the National Publicity Secretary of their party, Chief Olisa Metuh, stating that the APC regime was a step away from full blown fascism. The PDP Governors Forum said the action was meant to deride not only Metuh but the PDP as well as cast the party in bad light before Nigerians as a party of corrupt individuals, even when they were yet to be convicted by any competent court. In a statement on yesterday in Abuja by coordinator of the Forum, Earl Osaro Onaiwu, the governors said the APC regime was yet to learn from history, therefore its banal exhibitionism and Telemundo antics of subjecting accused persons like Metuh to inhuman treatment. “The only reasonable conclusion we have reached is that the anti-corruption agencies and other institutions of state have allowed themselves to be dictated to by a single vindictive authority which takes pleasure in using power anyhow and in any way in gross abuse of the constitution, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and human liberty. “The cuffing of the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP exemplifies a terrible decay of power by the APC regime which sees itself bigger than the democratic state, Nigeria, which brought it to power.

- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/metuh-apc-is-a-step-to-fascism-pdp-govs/#sthash.YAvVm8sY.dpuf

This seems a million dollar question, but the speculations are both rife and strong. Some say it is the reason for the turnaround or judicial fortunes of the embattled Taraba state governor. Sam Tysav looks at the possibilities of the governor decamping to the PDP immediately after he gets victory at the Supreme Court

No one can question the party platform under which governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba state contested and eventually emerged as the governor of the state. The former cabinet member of the federal republic of Nigeria aspired and won the support of his people on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
PDP was the ruling party in the country before the last general election. Not everybody believed that the opposition party, All Progressives Congress, APC, would make any appreciable mark in the last election. Such Nigerians, particularly, the political class were taken aback when the umpire body, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared the candidate of the APC, Gen Mohammadu Buhari winner of the presidential election.


- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/is-darius-ishaku-headed-for-the-apc/#sthash.9F6i0BpC.dpuf

The All Progressive Congress (APC) in Niger has won all the 24 Local Government Areas Chairmanship positions in the election conducted on Saturday in the state.
Chairman of the state Independent Electoral Commission, Alhaji Mohammad Abubakar, made the announcement on Sunday in Minna.
He said that the APC won a clear majority of the votes cast in the area councils.
He said that the reports from the commission across the councils indicated a peaceful conduct of election.
Abubakar urged the winners to be magnanimous in victory and work with those that lost.
The details of the result is as follows:
Agaie LG Abdullahi Umaru APC 2225, Yakubu Mohammed PDP 1226; Munya LG Yahuza Mohammed APC 10180, PDP Danjuma Baro PDP 4,980; Mokwa LG Idris Ndasode APC 30930, Mohammed Majin PDP 10,374; Paikoro LG John Ibrahim APC 14,169, Ibrahim Tatiko PDP 5, 618; Chanchaga LG Yusuf Inuwa of APC 16082, Danjuma Masu of PDP 7332 and Rafi LG Gambo kagara APC 23234, Zubairu Ismail PDP 8026.
Rijau LG Bello Bako APC 42984, Gambo Jibo PDP 3398; Shiroro LG Mark Jagaba APC 19774, Adamu Gogo PDP 4064; Tafa LG Ado Abubakar APC 2286, Emmanuel Ibrahim PDP 7189; Bida LG Mohammed Sadiq APC 20735, Kasim Yelwa PDP 339; Wushishi LG Mohammed Bashir APC 17935, Mohammed Isah PDP 359; Edati LG Isah Mamman Zubairu APC 17528 PDP nill and Bosso LG Abdullahi Saidu of PDP 9475 and Isah Wakili of APC 9555.



- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/apc-wins-all-chairman-positions-in-niger-lg-councils-poll/#sthash.B080vb24.dpuf

Indications emerged, weekend, that some of the 18 ex-service chiefs being investigated over the $2.1billion arms procurement deal, may have been placed under house arrest. President Buhari had on Friday directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, FCC to carry out full investigations into the alleged misconduct established against some retired and serving officers of the Nigerian Air Force and Nigerian Army over the deal that frustrated the war against the Boko Haram insurgency in the North Central. Those affected in the order include embattled former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.); former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.); and two former Chiefs of Air Staff, Air Marshal MD Umar (retd.) and Air Marshal Adesola Amosun (retd.)


- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/arms-deal-ex-service-chiefs-under-house-arrest/#sthash.G90q98Hh.dpuf

President Buhari delivers Keynote at Abu Dhabi Global Action Day today, signs agreement with Crown Prince, and meets prospective investors in Nigeria, this was contained in tweet by the special assistance to the president on media femi Adesina

http://nigerianpilot.com/president-buhari-delivers-keynote-at-abu-dhabi-global-action-day-today/

Chairman of the National Assembly and President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has directed a review of all security arrangements in the National Assembly to keep the institution abreast of the current challenges in the country, especially now that the Boko Haram insurgency has receded. According to the Special Adviser to the President of the Senate on Security, Major General Saleh Maina (rtd), the review of the security around the complex is part of the periodic plans to ensure better protection of lives and properties as well as improve on the existing arrangement. General Maina said in carrying out the directive of the Senate President, the heads of all security agencies present in the Complex and other officials whose portfolio has to do with Security have met at different times to devise a common and water-tight plan. Following the meetings, it has been decided that henceforth it is compulsory for all legislators, staff and visitors to the National Assembly to wear identity tag, Mania said. He also said that as part of the review of the security arrangements, there would be no loitering within and around the National Assembly by visitors and staff. Gen. Maina further said all vehicles to the National Assembly must be parked at the appropriate designated parking lots.

- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/saraki-orders-review-of-nass-security/#sthash.0rzKF8cR.dpuf

President lays a Wreath in Remembrance of our fallen Heroes at the Nat'l Arcade, Eagle Square, Abuja, today.


More Picture http://nigerianpilot.com/president-lays-a-wreath-in-remembrance-of-our-fallen-heroes-pix/

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For most of those lucky enough to meet the one they want to marry, getting the courage together to propose ~even once~ is a stress-filled, anxiety-ridden rollercoaster of emotion. For one man, a single proposal was a piece of cake — and so were the 147 others. Ray Smith, a man who lives in Northern England, decided one day last summer that he wanted to marry his girlfriend, Claire Bramley. Bramley, who was pregnant with the couple’s first child at the time, thought he was just documenting the pregnancy, but Smith had other, more adorable plans


See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/this-guy-proposed-148-times-before-his-girlfriend-noticed/#sthash.GGxi4RNv.dpuf

In furtherance of the anti graft war, President Mohammadu Buhari , Friday, ordered the EFCC to probe former Chief of Defence Staff, Chiefs of Air Staff, and thirty six others over corruption in military procurements. A statement issued by Garba Shehu, SSA to the President on Media & Publicity, said the probe was necessitated by the recommendation of the committee established to audit the procurement of arms and equipment in the Armed Forces and Defence sector from 2007 to 2015.


- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/buhari-orders-probe-of-ex-chief-of-defence-staffothers-over-graft-in-military-procurements/#sthash.L3Y9emEv.dpuf

In Sierra Leone health officials have confirmed a death from Ebola in the country just hours after West Africa was cleared as Ebola-free, the BBC reports.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that active transmission of the deadly virus had ended in Liberia, having previously declared Sierra Leone and Guinea to be Ebola-free in November and December respectively. It was the first time that all three West African countries had held the status simultaneously, effectively bringing to an end the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history that has claimed the lives of some 11,300 people.

- See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/ebola-returns-as-new-death-confirmed-in-sierra-leone/#sthash.2VtErRRV.dpuf