DailyBells Nigeria: 2015-02-15

Friday, February 20, 2015

Buhari receiving treatment in UK, says Fayose

Buhari in UK

Fayose

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Friday alleged that the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), who travelled to the United Kingdom for a supposed working visit, is in a London hospital.

According to him, Buhari is being treated at a hospital located at Cavendish Street, Cavendish Square, W2 London West End, London.

The governor said this had vindicated his earlier stand that Buhari was sick and lacked the required capacity to rule Nigeria.

The Christian Association of Nigeria has denied the allegation that its leaders were offered N7bn by the Presidency to campaign for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election.

The association also called on security agencies to investigate the Voice of Northern Christian Movement and its Executive Director, Mr. Musa Dikwa, for making the allegation.

The association also linked the allegation to those using different Christian organisations to perpetrate fraud.

President Goodluck Jonathan has promised that his administration would immediately begin the process of establishing the nation’s first University of Co-operatives that will be established in one of the states in the South West.

Jonathan made the promise while granting audience to members of the Oodua Cooperative Alliance from the six South Western states in the State House, Marina, Lagos.

The All Progressive Congress (APC) in Osun State, has threatened to file a legal action against a former Minister of Transport and Aviation and the Director of Media, Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organization, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, for allegedly fabricating a video clip which suggested that APC rigged the August 9, 2014 governorship poll in the state.

Describing the video clip allegedly posted on the internet as libelous, the party vowed to pursue the suit against Fani-Kayode unless he tenders an unreserved apology to the party.

Aliyu

Niger State deputy governor, Hon. Ahmed Musa Ibeto yesterday faulted claims by the state governor Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu that his absence in the state informed the appointment of the Speaker of the House of Assembly as the Acting Governor of the state.

Ibeto who defected from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to All Progressive Party (APC) last month was denied to serve as acting governor when Aliyu left for Lesser Hajj on Wednesday, rather he asked the Speaker, Barrister Adamu Usman to act under the guise that the deputy travelled.

The Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) has promoted 83 officers of the corps towards improving productivity.

Mr Ajibade Adekunle, Zonal Commander, TRACE in Ota, Ogun, made the disclosure on Friday in Ota.

The Naira on Friday depreciated by N5 to the dollar as it traded N215 at the Bureau De Change (BDCs) segment of the official market.

It also depreciated by N7 at the black market, selling at N217 to the dollar.

An Ikeja High Court fixed March 3 for ruling on a suit filed by the Synagogue Church Of All Nations against the ongoing coroner's inquest into its collapsed guest house building.

Justice Lateefa Okunnu reserved the date on Friday after hearing the reply on points of law filed by the church's counsel, Chief Lateef Fagbemi.

The inquest was set up by the Lagos State Government to investigate the Sept.12, 2014 building collapse which killed 116 people, mainly South Africans.

The National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA) has advised internally-displaced persons in some local government areas of Adamawa to return to their communities.

Malam Sani Datti, the Senior Information Officer of the agency told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola on Friday that peace had been restored in the areas concerned.

The Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mr David Paradang, on Friday canvassed for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Paradang campaigned for Jonathan when he received the Africa Youth Patriotic and Development Mission (AYPDM) in Abuja.

The Lagos State Government on Friday began the demolition of the three buildings gutted by fire on Jan. 12 at the popular Balogun Market in Central Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the demolition was being carried out by a firm, Blackrock Construction Company.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has met with the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Mr Iyad Madani, in Washington D.C.

This is contained in a ``readout" issued to UN correspondents in New York by the UN spokesman, Stephane DuJarric, on Thursday night.

A 25-year-old Collins Ezekial, who allegedly raped a 15-year-old girl and assaulted her with blows on Friday in Lagos appeared before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates' Court.

The accused, who resides at the Government Residential Area (GRA) Ikeja, is facing trial on a two-count charge of forcefully having sexual intercourse and assault.

A 20-year-old applicant, Abayomi Ogunbayo, on Friday appeared before a Badagry Chief Magistrates' Court in Lagos for alleged threat to kill his friend over a plate of rice.

Ogunbayo, whose address was unknown, was arraigned on a one-count charge of threat to life.

Apparently carrying out a court order, some court sheriffs, accompanied by two lawyers and police personnel this afternoon, (Friday) stormed the Broad Street office of the Newswatch magazine to seal off the place.

Before sealing off the office which was on the six-floor of the Energy House building around 2.45 pm, the court sheriffs who came with a mini truck were seen carting away the computers as well as office equipments such as printers, fridges among other items.

Bi-Courtney to install passengers' self-check-in facility at MMA2 terminal

MMA2

The Chief Executive Officer of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Ltd., Mr Christophe Penninck, says the company is to install a passengers' self check-in facility at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA2) terminal.

Penninck told aviation correspondents on Thursday in Lagos that the installation of the facility was to bring the terminal at par with other international airport terminals around the world.

The Customs Headquarters Monitoring Team, Seme axis, has intercepted 1,071 cartons of smuggled frozen poultry products with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N5.78 million.

The Acting Controller of the Customs Federal Operations Unit (F.O.U.) Zone `A’, Ikeja, Alhaji Usman Turaki, made the disclosure in a seizure report made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Suleiman Abba, has warned police personnel allegedly threatening to embark on strike over unpaid arrears of promotion of dire consequences of breaching extant rules and regulations.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr Emmanuel Ojukwu, on Thursday in Abuja.

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday doused fears of another postponement of the general election, saying the polls date would not be changed.

He stated this at the Naval Dockyard, Victoria Island, Lagos, during the commissioning of four new vessels to boost the capacity of the Nigerian Navy.

Unless the Federal Government moves swiftly to avert the impending strike by polytechnic workers, students may be heading back home soon as the unions in the sector brace up for another round of confrontation with the government.

The three unions (Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Non Academic Staff Union of Educational and Allied Institutions (NASU), and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) are accusing the government of refusing to honour agreements reached and doing nothing to address the grievances that led to its protracted strike (11 months) which was suspended in July 2014 to enable the Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, settle down and look into the issues.

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, on Thursday attacked the appellate court judges who affirmed a Federal High Court ruling that it is illegal to use soldiers for election duties.

Fayose while speaking during the monthly media chat, “Meet Your Governor,” accused the Justice Abdu Aboki-led five-man jury of “playing to the gallery” in holding that President Goodluck Jonathan lacks the power to deploy troops for elections.

The House of Representatives has rejected the $65 benchmark proposed in the 2015 budget by the executive.

It said the 2015 proposed budget was based on certain policy thrusts, instruments and assumptions that were flawed and must be “critically” addressed.

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, is to address the Royal Institute of International Affair, Chatham House, in London during his short visit to the United Kingdom.

A statement issued by the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation said that Buhari who left Abuja for UK on Thursday on a short working visit is expected to hold meetings with key members of the British political establishment and interact with some global institutions with stakeholder interest in the affairs of Nigeria.

The Defence Headquarters has said a combined operation by personnel of the Nigerian Air Force and the ground troops have resulted in the death of a large number of insurgents at the dreaded Sambisa Forest enclave of the Boko Haram and parts of Gwoza.

The Director, Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, said in a statement on Thursday that the air strikes which hit targets with precision inflicted a heavy casualty figure on the insurgents.

Revd. Uma Ukpai of the Victory Cathedral Fellowship Center, Uyo, Akwa Ibom, on Thursday announced that the church would stop communion for members who had not collected their Permanent Voter Cards.

Ukpai made the announcement during a church service in Uyo, saying it was unpatriotic for any Nigerian eligible voter not to participate in the electoral process.

Elections: Senators want service chiefs summoned

Some senators on Wednesday in Abuja expressed the desire for Service Chiefs to be summoned to the Senate to brief members on security issues which led to the rescheduling of the general elections.

The senators made their desire known in a session with newsmen shortly after the appearance of Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, at the senate to explain reasons for shifting the polls.

The Senate on Wednesday expressed confidence on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) readiness to conduct free, fair and credible elections.

The Senate President, David Mark, disclosed this when the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, briefed the house and demonstrated how the card reader would be used during plenary.

Mark, who expressed satisfaction at the demonstration of the card reader and the level of preparedness of INEC, said that the session was beneficial.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has told members of the upper legislative chamber, Senate, that he could not guarantee the 2015 general elections will hold on rescheduled dates in March and April.

While addressing the lawmakers in Abuja on Wednesday, Jega said he could not commit himself to the “sanctity” of March 28 and April 11 – dates for the rescheduled Nigeria’s general elections, stressing that INEC could not guarantee aspects of the poll that are beyond its control.

The President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Mr Kadre Ouedraogo, on Wednesday disclosed that the community had deployed 250 election observers to Nigeria for upcoming general elections.

Ouedraogo made this known when he visited the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja.

The Sultanate Council on Wednesday in Sokoto, urged the Muslim community to look for the new moon of Jumada Ula 1436 AH.

This is contained in a statement signed by Prof. Sambo Junaidu, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs, Sultanate council and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria.

The National Industrial Court in Abuja has ordered Global International College, Abuja to pay N1million damages to its former employee, Mr. Abel Enokela, for refusing to pay his gratuity for five years.

Justice Oluseun Shogbola, who gave the order in her judgment on Wednesday, said that N907,000 was the outstanding balance to be paid to Enokela as gratuity for five years as the school had paid N81, 500 for one year.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Suleiman Abba, has ordered a full-scale investigation into the shooting incident at the All Progressives Congress (APC) rally at Okrika in Rivers, on Tuesday.

Abba, who gave the order in a statement signed by the Force Spokesman, Mr Emmanuel Ojukwu, on Wednesday, confirmed that one policeman died in the incident, while three others sustained injuries.

The Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) said it has ordered for 500,000 pre-paid metres to be distributed to its customers this year.

Alhaji Muktar Baffa, the Head, Corporate Communication Unit of the company, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Kano.

A Wuse Zone 2 Magistrates’ Court, Abuja, on Wednesday sentenced two men, Julius Morrison and Abdurahman Sale, to one month imprisonment each, for stealing a church billboard, valued at N160,000.

Morrison, 29, and Sale, 23, both residents of Mabushi, Abuja, were arraigned on a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.

Ahead of this year’s World Condom Day, the AIDS Health Care Foundation(AHF), an NGO, says it will distribute 145,000 condoms in four states in North Central Nigeria.

The Advocacy Manager of the group, Mrs Oluwakemi Gbadamosi, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.

Elections: INEC set for public enlightenment on smart card readers

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday said that it would next week begin public enlightenment on the use of smart card readers.

An INEC National Commissioner, Prof. Akinola Salau, gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Salua, who is in charge of Osun, Ondo and Lagos states, spoke to NAN during a visit to Lagos State Office of INEC, in preparation for the general elections.

Six Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday defected to other political parties particularly that of the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

With the latest defections, APC now has 181 members, the highest number of lawmakers in the House. It is followed by PDP with 156 members and other political parties, 23 members.

Presidents from the 10-Nation Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) pledged in an extraordinary meeting to create an 87 million dollars emergency fund to fight the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

Gabon's President Ali Bongo, who attended the one-day summit in Cameroon, said he and his counterparts from the CEEAC have decided to create an emergency fund 87 million dollars to fight Boko Haram.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Suleiman Abba, has ordered Commissioners of Police to recover firearms from unauthorized security outfits, including state-owned agencies, nationwide.

The order is contained in a statement signed by Mr Emmanuel Ojukwu, the Police Public Relations Officer, in Abuja on Tuesday.

The Federal Government on Tuesday ordered aviation regulators to impose a civil penalty of 100,000 U.S. dollars on any aircraft engaged in air-traffic violations.

The Minister of Aviation, Mr Osita Chidoka, made this known when the committee on foreign registered, privately owned aircraft operations that was set up following the allegations of unauthorised operations by some operators, presented their reports to him in Abuja.

Channels TV correspondent Charlie Erukaa, like many others at the chaotic APC campaign rally in Okrika venue, went down, first on his knees, to avoid flying bullets.

A rally organised by the All Progressives Congress in Okirika, home to Nigeria’s First Lady, Patience Jonathan, was disrupted twice on Wednesday.

The rally was first disrupted by triple bomb blasts which occurred a few minutes after the leadership and party faithful assembled at the Okirika National Secondary School field in the early hours of the day.

Hours after a former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party and tore his membership card, another top member of the party has followed suit.

Abdullahi Muhammad, the senior special assistant on security to the governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwambo, openly tore his membership card in the state capital, Gombe, on Tuesday morning, citing dissatisfaction with the manner the country was being run as his reason.

An Ikeja High Court has awarded N25,000 in cost against the Synagogue Church Of All Nations and its founder, Temitope Joshua, for delaying further hearing of their suit against a Lagos state coroner.

Justice Lateefa Okunnu awarded the cost against the applicants on Tuesday for “wasting the time of the court and tax payers’ money”.

The applicants had sued the coroner, Oyetade Komolafe, and the Lagos State Government, over its ongoing inquest into the collapse of SCOAN guest house.

At least 37 people died in Biu town in Southern Borno state when multiple explosions occurred at a military checkpoint at the entrance of the town, security sources and ‎witnesses have said.

Twenty-three others were injured in the incident.

A group of Boko Haram terrorists tried to enter Biu in a vehicle filled with explosives but were blocked by soldiers at a checkpoint along the Biu-Maiduguri road, a security official said.

In what he described as their inability to exercise patience and making efforts to investigate stories before rushing off load new materials on their platforms, a renowned comedian, Bright Okpocha, popularly known as ``Basketmouth’’, has slammed Nigerian bloggers.

Basketmouth was angry that a tribute he paid to his brother, who died 10 years ago, was made to look like something that happened in 2015.

L-R : Director, Drug Evaluation and Research, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mrs Titilope Owolabi; Director, Port Inspection Directorate, NAFDAC, Mrs. Maureen Ebigbeyi and Director - General, NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii displaying the fake Alomo Bitters confiscated from a counterfeiter at a media briefing on the activities of the agency in Lagos recently.

Kasapreko Company Limited, producer of a medicinal alcoholic beverage, Alomo Bitters, has expressed delight at the arrest of a man who allegedly specialises in the production of unwholesome imitation of the original Alomo Bitters by officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

The suspect, Mr. Akintunde Smith, was arrested few weeks ago at his residence on Akanni Street, Teddy Village, Lagos where he was producing the counterfeit version of Alomo Bitters, following a tip-off.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

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