President Muhammadu Buhari and Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, are currently in a closed door meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Prof Soyinka who arrived the Villa was immediately ushered into the President’s office where a meeting is currently holding.
However, the purpose of the meeting has not been made public yet.
Details later…
A self-professed yet-to-be-named pastor has been nabbed in Abia state for his alleged involvement in car theft.
According to a Facebook user, Airo Brown, who shared the photos, the pastor who is linked to a car robbery syndicate was caught stealing a car in Amaekpu-Ohafia area of the state.
The user tagged the photos thus: ‘This pastor is behind all the missing cars in Ohafia. He has been captured through the vigilante group in Amaekpu-Ohafia. These are missing car plate numbers, so check if yours is here!!!”
He was beaten to a pulp and tied up by irate mob including a vigilante group who reportedly caught him in the act.
Other items like several vehicle license plates and car keys were said to have been found in his possession.
Although the police is yet to comment on the incident as at press time, the self-acclaimed pastor reportedly confessed to the crime.
See pictures below…
The Abuja division of the Court of Appeal on Tuesday reserved judgment in an appeal by embattled Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, where he is challenging the ruling of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which sacked him as governor of the state.
Recall that an Abuja Federal High Court had on June 27 sacked Ikpeazu as governor over tax evasion.
The Justice Okon Abang-led court had also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to issue Ikpeazu’s challenger in the 2015 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship primaries, Uche Ogah with certificate of return which was done, however, Ogah has not been sworn in.
Following Abang’s judgement, the embattled governor had filed an appeal at the appellate court presided over by Justice Morenikeji Ogunwumiju, seeking to overturn the judgement.
The Federal Government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari today relaunched the War Against Indiscipline, WAI Brigade, in Abuja, saying in this era of insecurity, violence, kidnapping, and other forms of social vices, the role of the Brigade in civil intelligence gathering cannot be over emphasized.
Announcing the development on the occasion of the National and State Commanders meeting of the Community Support Brigade, CSB, also known as WAI, the Director-General, National Orientation Agency, NOA, Dr. Garba Abari said the President Buhari administration has declared the intention to relaunch the Brigade for better performance, as well as to bring its activities to the fore.
Details later...
Roberto Mancini has been sacked as the manager of Inter Milan Football Club, after they were hammered 6-1 by Tottenham in a pre-season friendly last weekend.
The club’s owners decided to dismiss the Italian, with only two weeks before the start of the new Serie A season.
Mancini has been under pressure, after he failed to qualify Inter for this season’s Champions League, despite being on top of the table in late January.
“Inter would like to place on record its thanks to Roberto for the work carried out with the team since joining in November 2014,” said a club statement.
“Last season the club led Serie A until the Christmas break, ending the season in fourth place and qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.
“We thank Roberto for the work and commitment he has shown the club over the past 20 months.”
Report reaching KARIFEST has it that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, is presently in a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
It is reported that the meeting may not be unconnected to Dogara’s squabble with Abdulmumin Jibrin, the former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, and the several allegations that resulted from the face-off.
Dogara reportedly arrived the villa for the meeting around 2.30pm.
Details later…
The West African Examinations (WAEC), has Friday in Lagos released its 2016 May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), withholding the results of 137,295, representing 8.89% candidates.
Just as a total of eight hundred and seventy eight thousand and forty (878,040) candidates, representing 52.97%, obtained credits in five (5) subjects and above, including English Language and Mathematics."
It will be recall that in 2014 and 2015 the percentage of candidates that obtained five (5) credits and above including English Language and Mathematics in the WASSCE were 31.28% and 38.68% respectively.
Mr Olu Adenipekun who is the Head of Nigeria National Office, Nigeria, explained to journalists that the withheld results are in connection with various cases of examination malpractice, adding, "the cases are being investigated and reports of the investigations will be presented to the appropriate committee of the Council in due course for consideration."
According to him, a total number of 1,552,758 Candidates sat for the May/June examination.
Of the 1,544,234 who sat the exams, he said: " A total of 1,014,573 candidates, representing 65.70% obtained six (6) credits and above; one million one hundred sixty seven thousand four hundred and eighty four (1,167,484) candidates, representing 75.60% obtained five (5) credits and above, while one million two hundred and eighty two thousand two hundred and four (1,282,204) candidates, representing 83.03% obtained credit and above in four (4) subjects."
He added that one million three hundred and seventy thousand forty nine (1,370,049) candidates, representing 88.72% obtained credit and above in three (3) subjects, while one million four hundred and thirty eight thousand six hundred and seventy nine (1,438,679) candidates, representing 93.16% obtained credit and above in two (2) subjects.
The Nigerian Olympic football team, has arrived Manaus, venue of their opening match with Japan.
Nigeria’s U-23 team arrived in Brazil, merely seven hours before their opening game at the 2016 Olympics against Japan.
The Dream Team VI were stranded at Atlanta, USA, since Friday when they were initially scheduled to leave.
Samson Siasia and his boys could not fly out on Wednesday, after they rejected an Embraer EMB135ER Executive version, which could only convey 30 passengers.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan speaking to State House Correspondents after holding a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday, has advocated for a united Nigeria, saying that the country would be better of as such.
His response followed questions on his role towards ensuring peace and stability in the Niger-Delta region.
He said: "It's not just about me but about all the traditional rulers, elders and opinion leaders that are of the Ijaw ethnic nationality. We have been in touch to see that peace reigns in the country. Those of you that have followed my talks when I was here, my emphasis is that we need a United Nigeria and I always emphasize that Nigeria is great not just about the oil.
"So many countries produce more oil than Nigeria nobody notices them. We are great because of our size, the human resources we have, the diversity we have, if we fragmentize the country into small components, we will be forgotten by the World.
"That has been my focal position and without peace there cannot be development anywhere in the world. We are all working collectively to see that issues are resolved."
Speaking on his mission to the Villa, he said he was there to brief President Buhari on his emergence as the leader of African Union, AU elections monitoring team to Zambia.
"You asked why I came to see the President today, one key thing is that having been a head of a government, a former president you become a state property. That's the privilege you have but every privilege has its corresponding responsibility, and once you become a state property, most of your international engagement, that has to do with public addresses and some international assignment becomes a national assignment, you brief the President.
"Even when I was here the former presidents used to do that and see me. I have been coming. Most times, I come in the night that's why you don't see me. I came to brief the President about some of my engagements. As you are aware, I will be leading the AU elections monitoring team to Zambia. I came to brief the President about some of these external engagements. It is the tradition", he said.
The former president however refused to comment corruption saga in the country, saying he would speak at the appropriate time.
"I don't want to talk about that one because there are too many cases that are in court. It will not be fair to make comments. I will talk at the appropriate time when most of these things are resolved", he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari and former President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan held a close door meeting at the State House in Abuja.
More details soon.
Islamic State Jihadist group, ISIS, has announced a change of leadership in the Boko Haram militants group.
The terrorist group said the leadership for its West African branch, Boko Haram, has been adjusted, BBC is reporting.
The announcement was made known in the latest issue of their magazine.
The magazine featured its first interview with Abu Musab al-Barnawi, previous spokesman for the Nigerian-based Islamists who now replaces Abubakar Shekau, even though, it was not disclosed what has become of the group’s former leader, Abubakar Shekau.
Dr Abdulmumuni Jibrin, sacked Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress APC are currently meeting over his claims that Speaker Yakubu Dogara padded the 2016 national budget to the tune of N40 billion.
Decked in a white flowing African robe (Kaftan), Jibrin arrived the secretariat around 2:09pm in a black land cruiser numbered, Abuja, BWA 768 AM.
He went straight into the office of Sen. Lawal Shuaibu, the Deputy National Chairman, North.
Recall that the party had earlier (Monday) written Mr Jibrin to appear before it by 2pm today. Journalists are for now barred from the meeting.
MTN Nigeria have announced new all night browsing data plans that is much more affordable than the previous ones.
MTN seems to be passing a message across to their competitors as they unveils more night plans for their users to make their preferred choice.
No more paying N2,500 for 4.5GB night and day plan or waiting for 12 midnight before browsing.
Below are the newly introduced night data plans;
» 1GB Night Plan, (9PM – 6AM) Cost N200
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To Subscribe for any of the above night plans, Simply dial*198# Choose 2, and then 8.
Note: Each of the plan valid for 30 days.
National daily newspaper, PUNCH, have criticised the appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari. The paper has averred that the President “is by his appointments, presenting himself as a parochial, sectional leader”, adding that the level of sectionalism exhibited by Buhari is unprecedented.
While reminding Buhari of his inaugural speech declaration of “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody”, the national daily, in an editorial published on Monday, noted that the President has breached the pledge, the newspaper advised him to act like a father to all Nigerians and rise above primordial instincts.
“Among his first appointments, even while he dithered on assembling a cabinet: he recalled a retired officer to man the Department of State Services; a former army officer to head the Nigeria Customs Service; a personal acquaintance as Chief of Staff, and loaded the other security and law enforcement agencies heavily in favour of Northerners. While the DSS head is from his hometown, Daura, the others are also almost all Northerners and overwhelmingly Muslims. In spite of public opinion, he replaced the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, a Southerner, with a Northerner, an assistant inspector-general whose ascension induced the retirement in one fell swoop of 21 DIGs and AIGs who were senior to him. This is beyond absurdity.
“We declare emphatically that this is corruption. It is wrong to view stealing of government funds as the only form of corruption. A former member of the House of Representatives, Junaid Muhammed, alleges that not only is Buhari sectional in his appointments, several appointees are actually his relatives. Nigerians did not vote against the Jonathan administration’s impunity for corruption, only to be assaulted with another pernicious impunity for cronyism,” the newspaper wrote.
The editorial read in part, “He struck again last month when he removed Ibe Kachikwu as head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to put a Northerner; named another, Hadiza Bala-Usman, as managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority along with three executive directors, two of whom are also Northerners. Before then, he had ring-fenced himself with appointees from his northern constituency at the Presidency, thereby deepening the long-held fears of many Southerners that he has not overcome his well-known insularity.
“But the 1999 Constitution explicitly stipulates in Chapter 14 subsection 3 that the “composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall…reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups…” Buhari is breaching this with impunity in his appointments. Apart from this, Nigeria’s plural setting demands that no group or ethnic nationality is seen as too domineering in critical areas of governance.
“Buhari should be told that sectionalism and nepotism are also acts of corruption. You do not wage war against financial corruption while indulging in sectional and sectarian favouritism.
It is self-defeating; a veritable weak link that the formidable ranks of those fighting back furiously to preserve the existing corrupt order are already capitalising on. The President simply does not need this. Many are willing to concede that he is only demonstrating political naiveté; now, however, is the time to radically change tactics.
“The country is in a bad shape, compelling that all efforts be made to rally all segments of the polity behind measures to reverse economic recession, defeat terrorism in the North-East, renewed militancy and sabotage in the South-South zone, Fulani herdsmen’s terrorism in the North-Central and general insecurity across the country. The government admitted that the country is technically in recession last week, while Bloomberg reported that foreign reserves fell to just over $26 billion in June; oil production also fell to about 1.6 million barrels per day, while over 4,440 megawatts of power were lost last week, both due to sabotage of crude and gas facilities by criminals in the Niger Delta region. Meanwhile, though seriously degraded, Boko Haram terrorists are recovering their ability to ambush and inflict casualties on Nigerian troops.
“More importantly, the South-East and South-South zones voted massively against Buhari, who is deepening their alienation from his government by his lopsided appointments. But in truly democratic societies, elected leaders go all out to unite their people after elections. Apart from meeting the constitutional requirement that a minister be appointed from each of the 36 states, the two zones are sparsely represented in the Federal Government. If some past presidents indulged in primitive sectionalism, Buhari should not.”
The Chairman of Channels Media Group, John Momoh (OON) was elected Chairman of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria at the annual delegate conference on Wednesday in Abuja.
Momoh beat his opponent by polling 51 votes against Abbas Dalhatu from Freedom Radio, Kano who scored 12 votes.
This is the first time a private television media owner would be holding this position.
A first class traditional ruler in Plateau State, the Saf Ron Kulere, and Chairman of Bokkos Traditional Rulers’ Council, Sir Lazarus Agai, has been murdered by suspected herdsmen.
Agai who was the traditional ruler of Bokkos, the home town of a former governor of the state, Chief Joshua Dariye, was killed while returning from his farm in Sha, along with his driver.
The member representing Bokkos Constituency in the State House of Assembly, Mr. Sunday Muchen confirming the incident to Punch said the monarch was killed on Monday by unknown gunmen.
Details of the incident remained sketchy as of the time of filing this report.
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| Former Military Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida |
