Kwanza: A caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the house of representatives says Mary Odili, Slyvester Ngwuta, Bode Rhodes-Vivour and three other senior justices of the supreme court must be appointed to hear the appeal of Atiku Abubakar.
Atiku, PDP presidential candidate in the last election, had filed an appeal at the apex court to challenge President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory at the election petition tribunal.
It is a tradition at the supreme court for senior justices, including the chief justice of Nigeria, to preside over presidential election appeals.
Odili, a senior justice, is the wife of Peter Odili, former Rivers state governor and founding member of the PDP.
Rhodes-Vivour, another senior justice, is the father of Gbadebo, who ran for Lagos west senatorial seat on the platform of the PDP in the last election.
Ngwuta, a senior justice, resumed duties at the supreme court in September after being prosecuted for alleged corruption by the Buhari administration.
In a statement signed by Kingsley Chinda, PDP leader in the house, the caucus said Nigeria has set the precedent of appointing the most senior justices to hear presidential election appeals since 1979.
“The hearing of the appeal on the decision of the Presidential Election Petition filed by Alhaji Abubakar Atiku and our great party, the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), begins a few weeks at the Supreme Court,” it said.
“The practice of selecting Justices to hear the appeal is expected to precede the hearing, going by age-long convention. What isn’t conventional is the present attempt to influence Chief Justice Ibrahim Tanko, going by reports in the media, to subvert the age-long and time-tested practice, precedent and convention of selecting the most senior Justices of the Supreme Court to hear the presidential election appeal.
“Chief Justices of Nigeria through time have never in the selection of the Supreme Court’s Election Petition Appeal Panel surrendered to the phoney dictates of the ruling parties.
“We are proud to state here that never in our great party’s time in power, did it or its personages, dictate selection of panel members to Chief Justices; NEVER.
“In 2008 when President Buhari, defeated by late President Umaru Yar’Adua, appealed the decision of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, the then Chief Justice, Legbo Kutigi, empaneled Justices Katsina-Alu, Aloma Mukhtar, Dahiru Musdapha, Walter Onnoghen, George Oguntade and Niki Tobi to hear the appeal that year.
“He was never dictated to, nor was any attempt made by our great party to influence CJN Justice Legbo Kutigi, who stuck to a conventional practice that consistently secured the seal of approval of past Chief Justices: CJN Fatai Williams, 1979; CJN George Sowewimo, 1983; and CJN Muhammad Uwais, 2003.
“CJN Katsina-Alu also followed CJN Kutigi’s steps in 2011 and kept to the age-long conventional practice. If there is any arm of government that regards precedents and practices as almost sacrosanct, it is the judiciary. Nigerian Judiciary cannot reverse that internationally accepted practice of stare decisis just to please A.P.C government and serve the interest of a select individual or group.
“Selecting the Supreme Court Panel isn’t about witch-pricking-pricking Justices who suck blood out of justice isn’t about going outside the order of seniority to select Justices, witch-prickers, without independent jurisprudential thoughts and whose singular attribute for selection is that they demonstrate permanent dislike for justice and passion for doing the bidding of power.
“Surely, selection, Shorn off pressure and influence of the government and the present ruling party, is about demonstrating and holding firm to the constitutional powers of the Supreme Court to conduct its own affairs and not succumb to pervasive power and corrosive external influences.
“To sidestep precedents and convention is to provide legitimacy to the ruling party whose stock-in-trade is ridiculing the judiciary. Chief Justice Ibrahim Tanko must Sticks to precedents and conventions to preserve the integrity of the courts as the last hope of the common man and of citizens of our great country.
“We are however, gladdened that on Monday 14th October, 2019 through its Director, Press and Information, Dr. Festus Akande, the Supreme Court refuted this intent and reassured the Nigerian public that it is out to “Serve the interest of the generality of the Nigerian masses and not select individuals or groups”. We therefore, pray and hope that the Supreme Court does not allow itself to fall into this gobble trap.
“We wish to state that selection of Justices to hear the appeal of our great party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, must be in accordance with the conventional practice admitting only of the selection of the first seven most senior Justices of the Supreme Court: CJN Ibrahim Tanko, Justice Rhodes-Vivour, Justice Mary Odili, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, Justice Musa Muhammad and Justice Kumai Akaahs. NO MORE.”
Isinweke: El Chapo: Mexican police free drug lord's son as Culiacán battle erupts
Heavy fighting broke out in northern Mexico after the security forces seized one of the sons of jailed drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.
Fighting raged for several hours after Ovidio Guzmán López was found during a routine patrol in the city of Culiacán.
Footage showed heavily-armed men firing on police, with cars, bodies and burning barricades strewn in the road.
Police withdrew without Mr Guzmán in their custody to avoid further violence, officials said.
Mexico's security minister, Alfonso Durazo, told Reuters news agency that a patrol of National Guard militarised police came under intense fire from outside the house where they had located Mr Guzmán, forcing them to retreat from the building for their own safety and "to recover calm in the city".
A lawyer for the Guzmán family told the Associated Press (AP): "Ovidio is alive and free."
Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he would hold a meeting of his security cabinet to discuss the incident.
Mr Obrador was elected on a platform of cracking down on Mexico's drug cartels, and has tasked a new security force, the National Guard, with fighting them.
Under El Chapo's leadership, the Sinaloa cartel was the biggest supplier of drugs to the US, officials say.
With the kingpin now behind bars, the cartel is said to be partially controlled by Ovidio Guzmán Lopez, who is accused of drug trafficking in the US and believed to be in his twenties. But he is not one of El Chapo's best-known sons.
What happened in Culiacán?
The state government said Mr Guzmán was found in a house by a police patrol on a routine search.
It said cartel members subsequently launched the huge attack in an attempt to seize him back from the authorities. Fighters also attacked security forces in other parts of Culiacán.
Witnesses described scenes of panic in the city, a stronghold for the Sinaloa cartel, as families with small children fled from gunfire. Trucks were set alight in the streets to block roads
"No one knows what is going on but everyone is afraid and they have told us to not come in to work tomorrow," Ricardo González, a city resident, told AP.
Footage on social media showed a pick-up truck with a machine gun mounted on the back, in scenes reminiscent of a war zone. Armed men were seen in several areas of Culiacán on Thursday The Sinaloa state government told residents to remain calm and stay off the streets
Other footage showed families scrambling to take cover under cars and in shops as gunfire roared. In one video, a girl asked her father: "Why are they shooting bullets?"
A purported mugshot taken of Mr Guzmán while he was detained by police was shared widely on social media.
Sinaloa state's head of security, Cristobal Castañeda, told the Televisa network that two people had been killed and 21 injured, according to preliminary information.
Pictures showing what appeared to be dead bodies on the streets suggest the death toll could rise.
Some police officers were wounded, local officials said, but would not provide further details.
The authorities say they are working to restore order in the city
Cars and jeeps have were also set on fire during the clashes
As fighting brought the city to a standstill, the Sinaloa state government said an unknown number of inmates had escaped from the Aguaruto prison.
It said it was "working to restore calm and order" and called on residents to "remain calm, stay off the streets and be very attentive to official advisories on the evolving situation".
Over time, it became one of the biggest traffickers of drugs to the US. He escaped a Mexican jail through a tunnel in 2015, but was later arrested. He was extradited to the United States in 2017.
He was accused of having helped export hundreds of tonnes of cocaine into the US and of conspiring to manufacture and distribute heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana.
Made4naijaceo: Nigerian female disc jockey and phenomenal producer, Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola popularly known as DJ Cuppy releases the visuals to her street banger “Gelato” featuring the rave of the moment, Zlatan.
Cuppy has consistently delivered authentic and high quality videos since the release of her classic Afrobeat single ‘Green Light‘ up till her sizzling love jam ‘Abena‘.
This time, Cuppy takes us on a colourful trip to Candy land where we see her, Zlatan and Broda Shaggi catching cruise whilst having some of the world’s best Gelato!
Styled in bright beautiful colours, Gelato video is a grand entertaining piece that depicts Cuppy’s bubbly, cheerful personality and solidifies her position as the queen mother of the masses “Iya gbogbo street”.
Check out the colourful visual,Download MP3 and share your thoughts below!
'Touch Not the Anointed “KINGDOM HERITAGE CHILDREN” are Super Protected by God of LIVING FAITH CHURCH and the Spirit of our Father Dr. David Oyedebo. Before us this afternoon at D/Line PHC a cab man adopted 3 school children from a woman that was about taking his cad on a drop after school, she put the children in the cab and just tuned to enter the cab, this fool drove off with the Children to an unknown destination for his selfishness purpose.
The God of Living Faith Church took over the search of the Children, few hours later this same foolish cab man drove to same point where the frustrated mother was still crying and praying to the God of OYEDEPO for Help. Probably with the mind that nobody took notice of him or nobody recognized him. But as God would have it, on sighting his face and the color of the cab, she recognized him and raised alarm, we all ran out and accosted the man, after much interogation he accepted that the 3 children are locked up in his house.
What is this WORLD TUNING TO? What would have been the fate of this innocent children? This goes on to justify the saying thus. "Everyday for the thief, One day for the owner"
This man's cup was full today, he adopted the wrong children by torching God's children.
NOTE:
Bad people are everywhere and we can't be careful enough but we should always pray and anoint ourselves and our children everyday before leaving the house'
Nastybrave2016: During the military regime some young Nigerians got the opportunity to rule the country and they performed well. we are still hope for a young and active Nigeria to become the President of this great nation
Thank God things are changing with the signing of the Not Too Young To Run Bill which reduces the presidential age limit from 40 to 35.
Thanks to the new 'Not Too Young To Run' bill, the next head of state could be as young as 35.
This will provide create more opportunity for young Nigerians to become the president of this great nation in the nearest future.
Here is the list of 5 youngest head of states in Nigeria's history
aminulive: Positive reactions from segments of the society have continued to trail President Muhammadu Buhari’s pronouncement on Thursday for a forensic audit to be undertaken on the operations of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
While receiving governors of the states that make up the Commission in Aso Rock, President Buhari said what is presently on the ground in the Niger Delta region does not justify the huge resources that have been made available to the organization.
Mr Femi Adesina, Presidential Spokesman, quoted President Buhari in a statement released from his Office as expressing disappointment with the current state of operations at the NDDC vis-à-vis the volume of funds that have been pumped into the interventionist agency. “I try to follow the Act setting up these institutions especially the NDDC. With the amount of money that the Federal Government has religiously allocated to the NDDC, we will like to see the results on the ground; those that are responsible for that have to explain certain issues. The projects said to have been done must be verifiable. You just cannot say you spent so much billions and when the place is visited, one cannot see the structures that have been done. The consultants must also prove that they are competent,” the President said.
It would be recalled that the Presidency had been angered with reports of messy water hyacinth amounting to about N1.9bn purportedly approved and paid to phoney companies by the current interim Management team. The controversial payments which were in clear breach of Presidential directive and violation of extant procurement rules were said to have alarmed top Presidency Officials.
In their swift reaction, experts and stakeholders in the Niger Delta have expressed support for the presidential directive on forensic audit. They however urged President Buhari to quickly put the new Board that he appointed in August in place since they have never been part of the NDDC in the past, to help supervise the audit.
Dr Jeffrey Emerson, a Development Economist in Port Harcourt, who has written extensively on the Niger Delta, while lauding Buhari’s bold move stated that “It’s a very laudable and encouraging move. Stakeholders like us are elated but in carrying out the audit, it has to be supervised by a new Board, the New Board that has never been part of the rot in the past. You don’t expect the acting Managing Director or bureaucrats who have been part of the rot in the past to supervise that audit…The auditing team should work independently with a team and that team, in my view should be the newly named Board. That is the standard practice globally.”
In their own reaction, the President of Ijaw Diaspora Coalition, Elder Johnson Ebibai stated that it was widely reported in the national media that the Commission under the current interim management had secretly interviewed and was set to recruit over 300 new staff members without a Board approval for such massive recruitment, and it took the intervention and outcry of well-meaning stakeholders in the Niger Delta Region to halt the exercise. In his view, this therefore is not the leadership that should be entrusted with this level of activity to unravel what has happened in the past which involves them.
9jaBlogger: President Muhammadu Buhari has felicitated with Nigeria's former head of state and one of the living, General Yakubu Gowon as he turns 85 years tomorrow, Saturday, October 19, 2019.
In a statement obtained by Igbere TV issued by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Buhari described Gowon as a living legend and symbol of national unity.
He extolled the celebrant for his courage and interest in the “interest” of Nigeria, saying his (Gowon’s) visionary leadership style, wisdom and disciplined outlook had kept the country as one.
According to Buhari, Gowon laid a solid foundation for the country to thrive, with the creation of federating units, and implementation of futuristic policies like the famous NYSC.
He, therefore, commended the former head of state for “providing wise counsels to leaders, encouraging good governance in Nigeria, and for consistently upholding the nation in prayers.”
A copy of the statement issued by Femi Adesina, on behalf of Mr President, is reproduced below by Igbere TV...
A beautiful Nigerian lady and painter has joined the Tekno's #SkeletunDanceChallange after taking weed according to her.
The good-looking pantless young lady 'high on weed', was seen digging it out as she danced to the Tekno song 'Skeletun' in a weird manner while also promoting her artwork with her camel toes. She spiced it up with 'Soapy'.
She said:
"I took weed this morning. I did Skeletun and I came".
She caused a stir with her unique style of the Tekno dance challenge. Some already saying she has one the challenge for dancing with camel toe. But some others condemned her for going to such extent all because of a dance challenge.
abumaryam012: Maryam Muhammed from Bauchi State graduated with a First Class Honours in Law from Queen Mary University of London. The brilliant young lady was also awarded the Principal's Prize for outstanding academic achievements
Since Buhari enter Office Am spending 10K on Nepa Bills Instead of my Normal 5k , They no change my Prepaid Box ooooo
I Guess something is Fishy here , My Neighbor dey always remind me to recharge my Box On time ... I Wonder why she get so much interest on that these days.
Her son is a graduate of Electrical Engr , and he sabi illegal connections very well .
Abeg Nairalanders wetin i go do , am planning to remove my fuse this night and check her window to know if the light is showing ...
CapitalHYC: This snake was just killed few minutes ago in front of a Private lab I work in Ondo town.. It's quite long but not so big. Funny enough I hate snakes, any body knows the name?
AutoJoshNG: Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has announced the acquisition of 800 new BRT buses.
The governor made the announcement via a tweet, where he also announced the commencement of the expansion of the BRT lanes in the state.
According to the Governor, “Beyond road construction, we have started expanding the bus rapid transit system and gradually reducing the danfo buses on the roads. I am excited to announce that we have purchased over 800 buses to add to the existing BRT fleet expanding to more routes”
“We are supportive of private investment in transportation that is non-exploitative. This week, I launched @UberBoat, the first of many private-sector efforts at providing safe & efficient water transport working with our water transportation initiatives.”
See the tweet below.
See also: These Buses Are Not Lagos BRT Buses (See PHOTOS) HERE
The Lagos BRT
The Lagos BRT was established on 17 March 2008. It is the first BRT scheme in Sub-Saharan Africa. It started operations on a 22-kilometer radial highway BRT lanes that connect Mile 12 and Lagos Island. That is, it ran from Mile 12 through Ikorodu Road and Funsho Williams Avenue, Eko Bridge up to CMS.
Former Governor of Lagos State, Akinwumni Ambode, in May 2017, donated 50 new BRT buses to the private operator of the BRT service in Lagos.
Primero Transport Service Limited is the sole BRT operator in Lagos State.
liliandrew: The BBNaija Housemate, Mike Partners with the ace Nigerian singer, politician, and actor, Banky Wellington as has signed to @theofficialeme_'s management division.
According to Banky W on his Instagram post, "Mike is the focused housemates ever in the history of Big brother Naija". He added that he's proud of the 'classy way' Mike carried himself and "excited to be partnering with him and his incredible wife on their vision and plans.
He wrote:
"Is unquestionably one of the most focused housemates EVER in the history of BigBrother Naija. Even before he got on the show, he was an ambitious and accomplished athlete and Businessman - with his stellar line of Beard Oil, Caps and (first black-owned cigar company in the UK). Proud of the classy way he carried himself during the show, and excited to be partnering with him and his incredible wife on their vision and plans going forward. Glad to announce that Mike has signed to @theofficialeme_'s management division. Welcome, Mike and Perry to the family!!! Thank you for trusting us.
ackim: "At 14, I needed to get some money, because it was difficult at that age. With my first kid, I said that I had to do everything to become a footballer."
Wesley's dad passed away when he was just nine years old. "When my father died, it was difficult because my mum was alone with me and my brothers but she worked and now today I do everything for her.
"When I finish training I call my mum because she is everything. My mum did everything to help me play so everyday when I come home I call her." It's not just his mother and brothers who he has supporting Villa from back home in the south-east of Brazil.
"I had my first child when I was 14 years old, it was difficult because it was during this time that I started to try and play football professionally. I had to work in the day and then go to training in the evening."
Playing football and being a father proved a tough balancing act but he began to take the sport more seriously when baby number two came along. "I was 14 when I had my first kid and 16 when I had my second. When I had my children I told myself I had to do everything to be a football player."
It was a lot of pressure for Wesley to deal with, the Premier League must seem like a breeze, "When I play I have to think about my family, my kids, my mum, everybody."
The clock was ticking then. Make it as a professional footballer or get a job in order to support his new family. Wesley made the journey to Spain for six months but despite training and learning from Diego Costa, his trial didn't work out at Atletico Madrid.
Shorter spells in France went the same way and he soon found himself back in Brazil working in a factory, "I had to do something," he says. "I had to get money for my kids. I would go to a team and every team said no. I went to six teams before going to Slovakia.
"When I went to the sixth team I thought I didn't want to play football anymore. I thought it was finished for me. Then I got a chance."
The opportunity came when he was 19 in a small town called Trencin in Slovakia, quite the contrast to what he was used to. "The first few weeks there were difficult. It was very very cold. The first three months I think it was snowing all the time."
He gestures towards his toes. "I came from Brazil and I couldn't feel my feet so it was difficult to play football." Temperatures barely climbed above freezing in Trencin but that was where Wesley's career began to take an upward trajectory.
He converted from a midfielder to a striker. "When you play midfield you have to think fast and then I moved to play as a striker and kept thinking fast." A forward as sizeable as Wesley was a tricky proposition for defenders and a transfer to Club Brugge in Belgium quickly followed.
Nineteen league goals across two seasons saw Villa pay out a club-record fee for Wesley following their promotion to the Premier League, so does the 22-year-old think about what might have been? "I am very happy playing in the Premier League in the biggest competition in the world.
"Every day I think about the past, you know, what I was thinking when teams were saying no to me so I'm very happy now that I have this job."
Wesley's rise from struggling to make ends meet in Brazil to early success in England becomes even more remarkable when you consider that he has a condition he can do nothing about.
His right leg is almost three centimetres shorter than his left. "I don't know what I can say", he chuckles. "I have my legs like this you know and I don't have any pain or anything like that. I hope to continue like this."
Wesley's head coach at Aston Villa Dean Smith does his due diligence before signing any player. He goes to meet them and looks for one particular first impression. "Can they hold a conversation with me?" Smith says.
Politics / Re: PDP Reps: Mary-odili, Ngwuta Must Be Appointed To Hear Atiku’s Appeal by viviangist: 12:58am On Oct 19, 2019 
