ireport things

I think Governor Ayo Fayose should know that anytime he blames President Muhammadu Buhari for action and decision of an independent government agency, he is indirectly exposing the truth to Nigerians that his party’s defeated president, Goodluck Jonathan, used to interfere secretly.   It is because Fayose knows that Jonathan used to interfere, hence he thinks Buhari will do same.Below is what Fayose is accusing President Buhari of doing in Kogi State election… “Having manipulated the election substantially, what they plotted by covering up Audu’s death for hours against Islamic injunction, was to declare a dead candidate as elected governor of Kogi State so as to pave the way for the emergence of his running mate as the governor-elect.

At least 105 soldiers of the 157 Battalion, including their commanding officer, are feared missing after they came under intense attack from Boko Haram insurgents at Gudunbali, Borno State, on Wednesday, military sources have told PREMIUM TIMES. According to one of our sources, the terrorists also captured a T-72 tank as well as several artillery weapons from the unit. “Gudunbali was attacked this morning and some weapons were captured from the battalion. Two officers and 105 soldiers are still missing,” our source said. “They captured a T-72 tank from the unit and some artillery weapons were also captured. The commanding Officer (CO) of the battalion is yet to be seen but no one has been confirmed dead yet,” the source added. Another source however said the T-72 tank was recovered after a prolonged fight with Boko Haram insurgents. The gunner and tank commander were injured in the process, he said. Also reportedly captured by the insurgents were eight vehicles, a ...

The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, has denied reports that officers of the Force had killed some members of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), during their protests across parts of the country. Recall that following the arrest and continued detention of Director of Radio Biafra and Leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, by Nigeria’s secret Police, the Department of State Services (DSS), his supporters had organised massive protests across parts of Delta, Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Bayelsa and Rivers States, calling for his immediate release. Arase, in a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole on Thursday in Abuja, described the reports as social media speculations, stressing that despite provocation, police officers had managed the situation with a high sense of responsibility and professionalism. He called on the citizens to disre...

The fight against Boko Haram terrorists is continuing to maintain its momentum with the discovery and destruction of terrorists’ camps, weapons and equipment, while the terrorists have been fleeing, and abandoning their bases. The fight against Boko Haram terrorists is continuing to maintain its momentum with the discovery and destruction of terrorists’ camps, weapons and equipment, while the terrorists have been fleeing, and abandoning their bases. In 25 Task Force Brigade’s area of responsibility, the troops were able to clear Boko Haram terrorists camps at Nwalemer, Mallemiri and Bale. Similarly in Gwoza axis, troops of 26 Task Force Brigade have also destroyed terrorists camps in Tripkwopta and Gidan Gachi yesterday. The troops however encountered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) buried along their route of advance near Balazalla Dure that partially affected one of the leading vehicles. The troops also encountered an abandoned truck loaded with IEDs at Uvole v...

It is not yet uhuru for the immediate past National Security Adviser(NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) as he was prevented from traveling on Wednesday night, even as the operatives of the Department of State Security surround his Abuja residence on Thursday. Dasuki floored the Federal Government and Department of State Service (DSS) in one of the first ruling of Federal High Court (FHC) sitting in Abuja, which granted his application for speedy and urgent medical treatment abroad. The presiding judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola in his ruling, dismissed the counter argument by the Prosecuting Counsel, opposing Dasuki’s need for medical check-up outside the country. Justice AdemoIa held that in criminal trial an accused person is assumed innocent until proven guilty and that a citizens health is very paramount in any trial case and before the law. He, therefore, ordered for the release of the applicant’s international passports to enable “him to attend three-week...

Mr Mahmud Magaji (SAN) and Ahmed Raji (SAN) on Thursday withdrew their services as lawyers representing the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The lawyers openly announced their withdrawal following their perceived dissatisfaction with the ruling of the tribunal on their application for stay of proceedings. They said that they were displeased with the decision of the tribunal refusing their application to stay proceedings in the trial pending the determination of an appeal they filed before the Supreme Court. Saraki, who is standing trial in the tribunal on allegations of false asset declaration, had appealed to the Supreme Court seeking to stop the trial. His lawyers had applied to the tribunal to stay proceedings in the trial pending the decision of the apex court. In its ruling, the tribunal, presided over by Justice Danladi Umar upheld the argument of the prosecution that staying proceedings would hamper speedy trial. ...

Egypt is “completely ready” to work with its partners to protect foreign citizens and wants normal travel to resume as soon as possible, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Thursday. His remarks came as Britain pushed for increased aiport security measures in Sharm el-Sheikh after a Russian plane crashed shortly after taking off from the Red Sea resort, killing all 224 people on board and raising suspicions it was brought down by a bomb. “We are completely ready to cooperate with all our friends to make sure that our airport provides the safety and security needed for the people who come to us,” he said at a joint news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron.  “We also talked about the actions needed to make sure that this will not have any negative ramifications on the future of tourism in Egypt,” he said a day after Britain suspended flights to and from the resort, with Germany’s Lufthansa following suit on Thursday. He also e...

Ebitimi Ogbomah, legislative aide to the lawmaker representing Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency in the Federal House of Representative, Hon. Mutu Ebomo, has debunked reports that he nominated ghost names for the amnesty program. In a statement on Thursday, the lawmaker clarified that there are two committees in the House of Representatives, responsible for the oversight of Niger Delta affairs/issues, which are the committee on Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC and the Committee on Niger Delta. Ogbomah pointed that he was only chairman of the committee on NDDC, responsible for the oversight of the agency, adding that he had nothing to do with the Ministry of Niger Delta and the Amnesty program, which was under the oversight jurisdiction of the Committee on Niger Delta. The statement read: “The Office of Hon. Mutu Ebomo wishes to clear the air on the rumour making the rounds that the member representing Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency in the Federal H...

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday warned his ministers-designate against waste of resources and impunity, urging them to key into the change agenda of his government. The president spoke at the ongoing retreat for the incoming ministers at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Abuja. He also asked them to consider themselves privileged to be called to service in the midst of millions of Nigerians, charging them to work as a team to deliver. The president however told the ministers-designate to use the office of his chief of staff as official communication Channel inline with the presidential system of government. He reiterated his resolve to fight corruption, solve unemployment problems, tackle insecurity and also diversify the economy for sustainable growth. The retreat which started on low key at the Transcorb hotel in Abuja on Wednesday to end on Friday is themed “Delivering Change: From Percepts to Practice”. While the early part of the openi...

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Africa's biggest telecommunications company is locked in a nasty battle with one of the most powerful governments on the continent, with billions of dollars at stake. MTN Nigeria, MTN Group's subsidiary here, was fined $5.2 billion for failing to meet an August deadline to deactivate 5.2 million unregistered cellphone SIM cards — considered a security threat with Nigeria confronted by an Islamic uprising and rampant kidnappings and armed robberies. The fine amounts to nearly two years' profits for MTN Nigeria, by far the company's most profitable subsidiary. It also equals nearly a quarter the national budget of Nigeria, which has been hammered by the global plunge in oil prices. Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer and President Muhammadu Buhari, who was elected this year, says he inherited depleted coffers as he struggles to create jobs and fulfill other campaign promises. In a telephone interview Thursday with The ...

V eteran actor, Victor Olao­tan, has a pedigree trace­able to the historic Ibadan Theatre Group dating back to the late 1950s. The full-blooded Lagosian discloses to Sunday Sun that Nigerian thespians are underpaid, while blaming la­bour unions for weak regulation of the entertainment industry. In this encounter, Olaotan brings to the fore salient issues border­ing on his life, family and career. Excerpts: Could you give us an overview of your career? I got my feet firm in the in­dustry in 1959 and from then, I knew I would love to be in this business because growing up, we watched Indian and Chi­nese movies and I have always been interested in the industry, although I never knew what I wanted to be. I thought of be­ing a dancer or a singer. I also aspired to be a doctor because I was a science student. I at­tended St Gregory’s College in Obalende and I am a full Lagosian. I did all kinds of odd jobs just to make ends meet. I started with a company as a securi...

President Mohammadu Buhari Says constitution provides for 36 cabinet members not ministries Tobi Soniyi and Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja   President Mohammadu Buhari on Tuesday dismissed the opinion of his critics who accused him of scaring investors with his pronouncements, insisting that he will always tell investors the truth about the nation's economy. Buhari, who reasserted his stance when he received a report on the confirmation of the last batch of ministerial nominees from the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, gave account of the economy since his assumption of office in May and submitted that "we are so much battered." According to him, "the economy as I have seen it now since my sitting here for the last four months, that we are so much battered. Although some people are saying I am giving bad publicity and scaring away investors. "Any investor who is interested in investing in Nigeria will seem to know m...

The Senate on Wednesday rejected a motion for the payment of N5, 000 monthly allowance to unemployed youths in the country. The motion was sponsored by Philip Aduda (PDP, FCT) but was greeted with shouts of “no, no” when he tried to explain it. Attempts by the Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, to second the motion were disrupted by the rowdiness. Intervening, President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, posed the question but the senators responded along party lines. While Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members yelled ‘’aye’’ in favour of the motion, All Progressives Congress (APC) senators, who were in majority, rejected it. However, a motion calling for the probe of the utilisation of Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) funds by the immediate past administration was adopted by the senators. The sponsor of the motion, Babajide Omoworare, prayed that every naira spent by the past government on SURE-P and other poverty alleviation programm...

— Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, yesterday, lost his bid to use the Supreme Court to oust the judgment of the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that sacked him from office last week Saturday. ABUJA This happened as 20 members of Rivers State House of Assembly whose election was nullified by the state legislative election petition tribunal, appealed against the judgment. Wike had gone before the apex court to challenge the jurisdiction and competence of the tribunal to conduct hearing on the petition filed against his election by the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its governorship candidate in the state, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, outside Rivers State where the said election held. He contended that the action of the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, in relocating the tribunal to Abuja without due consultation with either the Chief Judge of the state or President of the Customary Court of Appeal, was in brea...