First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, returned to the country from Germany on Wednesday afternoon.
Mrs. Jonathan was hospitalized in the European country for several weeks, recuperating from an undisclosed ailment.
The first lady, whose arrival was confirmed by the News Agency of Nigeria, landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on a presidential jet at about 4 pm and was received by top government officials and other well-wishers.
The Rivers police command on Wednesday arraigned 13 suspects before a Port Harcourt Magistrates’ Court, charged with conspiracy and murder of four students of the University of Port Harcourt.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that suspects were arraigned on a five-count charge of murder, felony, conspiracy, lynching, and burning.
Prosecuting police Adiari Idafi told the court, presided over by Magistrate Emma Woke, that the accused on October 5, allegedly murdered Chiadika Lordson, Ugonna Kelechi Obusor, Mike Lloyd Toku and Tekena Elkanah.
Idafi named the accused as Hassan Welewa, (59), Lawal Segun (28), Lucky Orji (43), Cynthia Chinwo (24), and Ekpe Daniel (30).
Others are George Nwadei (20), Gabriel Oche (33), Ozioma Abajuo (23), Chigozie Evans Samuel (22), Endurance Edet (27) and Endurance Okoghiroh (24).
Also arraigned were David Chinasa Ugbaje (30) and Ikechukwu Louis Amadi, alias Kapoon (32).
Idafi stated that the offence was punishable under Section 324 of the Criminal Code Cap 37 Laws of River State, Nigeria, 1999, and Section 319 of the Criminal Code Cap 37 Vol. III laws of Rivers State, Nigeria, 1999.
The accused were asked by the court if they understood the charges and they consented, but no pleas were taken.
The magistrate ordered that the accused be remained in police custody for further investigation, and adjourned the case till December 20, for further hearing.
Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Wednesday said the Labour Party’s allegation that the commission’s National Commissioner, Prof. Lai Olurode, is a member of a political party was unacceptable.
Speaking in Akure during a stakeholders’ meeting on Wednesday, Jega said INEC’s had found out the claim was meant to smear the commissioner’s integrity.
He stressed that none of INEC’s workers had any affiliation with any political party.
Jega said,” The allegation is spurious. No member of INEC is a member of any political party.
“If you have any evidence to support your allegation, provide it. We will do the right thing.
“But our investigation has shown that your claim is spurious.
“We don’t take any allegation immediately it is made. We investigate every allegation.”
President Goodluck Jonathan has warned that the civil service cannot continue to be a clog in the wheel of development in the country.
He also warned that bureaucracy should not be a stumbling block to progress and development
The president charged the civil service on the need to look at things critically and reduce mistakes, saying it will be very costly if government makes silly mistakes.
He assured that the political office holders on their part will try not to make mistakes.
The president spoke on Wednesday during the swearing in ceremony of five Permanent Secretaries and the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Okon Ekpo.
According to the president, “no matter the efforts put in place once the civil servants refused to move along that is the end.”
While noting that the service needs to be tacit in its work to avoid mistakes, the president said efforts must be geared towards moving the country forward.
This, he said, is the expectation of Nigerians.
He pleaded with the civil servants to work with political office holders to change the country for good, stressing that the “country belongs to all Nigerians and we must make sure that we get to where our contemporaries are.”
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Engr. Andrew Yakubu, on Wednesday described oil unions as partners in progress.
Yakubu gave the commendation during a courtesy call/interactive visit by the National Executive Council of the Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in his office at the NNPC Towers, Abuja.
His words: “One of our greatest gifts as NNPC Management is the presence of a strong workforce and supportive in-house unions. In particular, I commend your level of maturity and counsel and I must say without any fear of contradiction that you are partners in progress.”
The GMD specifically appreciated the co-operation of the unions to the NNPC during the recent fuel scarcity witnessed in some major cities of the country, stressing that such understanding was necessary towards achieving the Corporation’s set objectives.
“We must sustain this cordial relationship for us to be able to deliver on our mandate and to a larger extent for the benefit of our country,’’ the NNPC boss stated.
He urged the union officials to continue to engage the NNPC Management in meaningful dialogue, noting however that results must be seen to be produced from those meetings.
“I am not interested in the number of meetings we have with you, but the number of results achieved,” he said.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, on Wednesday declared October 26 as Ed-el-Kabir Day following the sighting of the new crescent on October 16.
This is contained in a statement signed by the Chairman, Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs to the Sultanate Council, Prof. Sambo Junaid.
“The sultanate council advisory committee at its meeting on October 16, reviewed reports received from various moon sighting committees across the country.
“They have duly confirmed the birth of the new moon of Zulhijja, 1433 After Hijra of the Holy Prophet with effect from Wednesday, October 17, which is the first day of Zulhijja.
“Friday, the 26 of October, is the 10th day of Zulhijja, 1433 AH, which is the Ed-el-Kabir day.
“His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar wishes all Muslims a happy Ed-el-kabir. May Allah accept our religious deeds, Ameen, “the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the Prof. Junaid as saying in the statement.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday arraigned two directors of oil marketing companies in an Abuja High Court over fuel subsidy fraud.
The two, Saminu Rabiu and Jubril Rowaye, directors of Alminnur Resources Limited and Brilla Energy Limited respectively, were arraigned before Justice Adebukola Banjoko.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Rabiu and Rowaye were arraigned on 17 counts of conspiracy and fraud.
The two were accused of fraudulently using their companies to obtain N1.5 billion from the Petroleum Support Fund as payment for the importation of 10,000 tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit.
The commission alleged that Rabiu and Rowaye, at various times, forged different bills of lading for PMS that was not supplied in a bid to claim the subsidy on fuel.
The two pleaded not guilty to the charges.
After taking their plea, counsel to Rabiu, Mr. Reuben Nnah, filed an application for bail.
Nnah urged the court to grant his client bail on liberal terms.
In another bail application, counsel to Rowaye, Mr. Richard Oluyede, prayed the court to admit his client to bail.
Oluyede said his client before the arraignment had been on administrative bail granted him by the EFCC.
The EFCC counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, who did not oppose the bail application, however, prayed the court to impose conditions that would ensure that the accused attend their trial.
In her ruling, Banjoko granted bail to the two oil marketers.
Banjoko admitted them to bail in the sum of N10 million each with two sureties each in like sum.
The judge ordered that each of the sureties must be resident in Abuja and must depose to an affidavit of means, showing that they could meet the bail bond.
Pirates off the coast of Nigeria have kidnapped six Russians and an Estonian during an attack on their ship, Bourbon, the French shipping company operating the vessel told Reuters on Wednesday.
Another nine crew members were safe, the company added.
Pirate attacks are on the rise in the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, which is second only to the waters around Somalia for piracy.
Chelsea Clinton is taking on the discomforting issue of diarrhea, throwing her family’s philanthropic heft behind a sweeping effort in Nigeria to prevent the deaths of one million mothers and children each year from preventable causes, including 100,000 deaths from diarrhea.
The 32-year-old daughter of former United States President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined Nigerian officials, the prime minister of Norway and other leaders on Tuesday in promoting expanded access to zinc and oral rehydration solutions or ORS, a treatment that could prevent more than 90 percent of diarrhea-related deaths in the country.
“It is unconscionable that in the 21st century, children still die of diarrhea,” Clinton told Reuters in an exclusive interview by phone from Abuja.
The ORS and zinc work in Nigeria is in coordination with the Clinton Health Access Initiative or CHAI, on whose board Clinton serves.
She has stepped up her public role in the family’s global philanthropic efforts and in July took a six-day tour of Africa with her father, who founded the William J. Clinton Foundation in 2001.
The goal of the initiative in Nigeria is to help drive down the cost of high-quality ORS and zinc treatments and increase awareness for them, said Clinton, currently a doctoral candidate in international relations at the University of Oxford.
Currently, fewer than two percent of children in Nigeria have access to the World Health Organization-recommended treatment. Increasing the number of children with access to the therapy to 80 percent by 2015 would help prevent an estimated 220,000 deaths in Nigeria.
“I would like to see us make real, measurable progress here in Nigeria and in the other countries where we are working on ORS zinc,” said Clinton, including Uganda and parts of India, as part of the CHAI’s new push to improve access to essential medicines for children.
“For me, it’s not complicated. We know what works and we should be doing more of it. And when we don’t know what works, we should be innovating and spending time and energy on designing these solutions to solve problems that haven’t been solved yet,” said Clinton.
Rwanda’s defence minister is effectively commanding a rebellion in the Democratic Republic of Congo, United Nations experts say.
The confidential report, leaked to Reuters agency, says Uganda is also backing the M23 rebels, who have been fighting the DRC’s army since April.
BBC reports that the document builds on a UN report published in June which accused Rwanda of supporting the insurgents.
Rwanda and Uganda strenuously deny supporting the rebellion.
BBC says that during the past two decades Rwanda has backed armed groups in the east of DR Congo as a way to fight Hutu rebels who fled there after the genocide of the 1990s.
Some accuse Rwanda of using militias as proxies in an on-going battle for the region, which is rich in minerals.
The latest report by the UN Security Council’s Group of Experts provides more details of Rwanda’s alleged continued involvement.