The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian Newspapers

  • We did not exonerate Osinbajo of N90bn allegation – CAN

    The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Sunday said it did not exonerate Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of the N90 billion allegation.

    CAN on Friday threw its weight behind Osinbajo over the N90 billion allegation leveled against him by a former spokesman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Timi Frank.

    National President of (CAN), Rev. Supo Ayokunle and its members last Friday visited Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa over the alleged N90 billion and ,according to Ayokunle, prayed for him.

    Frank had alleged the Vice President collected N90 billion from the Federal Inland Revenue (FIRS) to fund the 2019 election.

    A statement in Abuja by Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, Special Assistant (Media &Communications) to Rev. Samson Ayokunle said the Christian body does not endorse corruption.

    Read Also: BREAKING: Osinbajo will have the last laugh, says Pastor Bakare

    According to him: “The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) can never endorse corruption and has never exonerated anyone accused of corruption because we are not a court of law.

    “Anyone accused of corruption has to prove his or her innocence with documentary evidence before the court of competent jurisdiction as we all know before his or her innocence can be upheld.

    “CAN leadership visited the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo last Friday to hear his side of the story instead of rushing to the press either to condemn him or throw our weight behind him. This we believe, there is no law that is against our action.

    “After we had interacted with him and he said that the allegation was baseless and should be treated as rubbish, and not only that, that he said that he was going to pursue the matter legally to prove his innocence, we then assured him that if he is proved innocent, then we throw our weight behind him.

    “We thereafter prayed for him and our nation Nigeria. We urged him to continue to serve the nation with clean hands.

    “The leadership of CAN has never endorsed corruption. In our earlier visits to President Muhammadu Buhari, we had praised him for fighting war against corruption but urged him to make it comprehensive, sparing no one irrespective of political affiliation.”

  • BREAKING: Ike evicted from #BBNaija19

    Ike has been evicted from the BBNaija 2019.

    Ike becomes the 20th Housemate to be evicted from the reality show.

    Ebuka Obi-Uchendu announced Ike’s eviction on Sunday.

    Details shortly….

  • DSS arrests human rights activist, Chido Onumah

    The Department of State Security Service (DSS) has arrested a human rights activist, Dr. Chido Onumah.

    According to a statement by The African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), the activist, who authored a nook called, “We are all Biafrans”, was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on his return from a trip abroad.

    Onumah has just completed his PhD course.

    But there were fears that Onumah was picked up by operatives following inscriptions on his T-shirt, suspected to have reflected the title of his book.

    Read Also: Court orders DSS to release Sowore to Falana

    The statement by AFRICIMIL, which was signed by Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, said it was alarmed over the arrest of its Coordinator, Mr Chido Onumah, this evening, by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS).

    The stayement said: “Onumah was picked up at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on his return from a trip abroad.

    “AFRICMIL condemns in strong terms the unjustifiable arrest of Onumah and demands his immediate and unconditional release.

    “Waylaying law-abiding citizens should not be turned into the preoccupation of an entire security outfit.”

  • 11 things you should know about Nigeria

    11 things you should know about Nigeria

    Below are 11 important facts about Nigeria:

    – Nigeria is the 32nd-largest country in world with a landmass of 923,768 km2 (356,669 sq mi).    – The highest point in Nigeria is Chappal Waddi at 2,419 m (7,936 ft) in Taraba state.- Late Benedict Odiase, a retired Deputy Commissioner of Police, composed the music of the national anthem.

    – The words of the national anthem was composed by four Nigerians: Dr. Omoigui, John Ilechukwu, Eme Etim Akpan, B.A Ogunnaike, and P.O Aderibigbe

    – There are  37 federal owned Universities, 37 State-owned and above 50 private owned universities.

    – The 2006 census puts Nigeria’s population at 140,431,790 million – although there is now an estimate of about 170,000,000 Nigerians.

    – The name Nigeria was coined by Flora Shaw, wife of Lord Lugard, a British colonial administrator.

    – Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world

    – On 1 January 1901, Nigeria became a British protectorate, part of the British Empire.

    – On July 6, 1967 a 30- month war begun with a long siege of Biafra and its isolation from trade and supplies. It ended in January 1970

    – Nigerians went through 33 years of military rule (from 1966 until 1999).

    -Ever heard of the Ship House? That is the name of Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters

  • April trip: Constitution didn’t require me to hand over to Osinbajo, says Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari has defended his decision to not hand over power to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo when he visited the United Kingdom privately from April 25 to May 5, 2019.

    Buhari said there was no constitutional requirement for him to do so for trips less than 21 days.

    He stated this in response to a suit by a Lagos-based lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, challenging him and the Attorney-General of the Federation for the failure to hand over power to Osinbajo in April.

    The suit marked, FHC/L/CS/763/2019, is before Justice A. O. Faji of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos and will be heard on Monday, October 7, 2019.

    Effiong asked the court to determine whether in view of Section 145 (1) of the Constitution, the President can validly proceed on vacation for any length of time without transmitting a written declaration to the National Assembly to that effect, which will empower the Vice President to perform the functions of the President in an acting capacity.

    Read Also: Buhari denounces Kaduna school of torture

    He asked the court to determine whether Buhari’s vacation without transmitting the written declaration envisaged in Section 145 (1) of the constitution to National Assembly is not in conflict with the provisions of Section 145 (1) of the constitution.

    But the President defended his action via a six-paragraph counter-affidavit deposed to on his behalf by a litigation officer in the Civil Litigation Department of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr. Friday Atu.

    The affidavit reads in part, “It is a fact that the 1999 Constitution (as amended) regulates the performance of the duties of the President of the federal Republic of Nigeria in situations where the President is proceeding on vacation or is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of office.

    “That it is a fact that where the President embarks on a vacation or otherwise is unable to discharge the functions of his office and fails to transmit a written declaration to that effect, he will be considered not to have complied with the constitution (as amended).

    “That the time within which the President has to transmit a written letter to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is 21 days.

    “That the President’s foreign trip lasted for nine days from April 25, 2019 to May 5, 2019. The President did not exceed the 21-day period required by the constitution. It is in the interest of justice to dismiss the claims of the plaintiff.”

    Buhari equally asked the court in a preliminary objection to strike out the suit because the lawyer lacks the locus standi to institute the case.

  • Chelsea’s Fikayo Tomori undecided on Super Eagles

    Chelsea’s young star Fikayo Tomori says he’s open to the possibility of committing his International future to the Super Egales.

    Tomori, who is enjoying a good run of games in Chelsea’s first team, is eligible to play for Nigeria, England and Canada at the national team level.

    The Chelsea Academy Graduate revealed that decision has not been made concerning his country of choice.

    “I am a citizen of all three (countries ) so we ’ ll see. I was born in Canada and lived there about seven or eight months old. My family is Nigerian, obviously, I live in England.

    “It’ s nice to have that. I can ’ t play Under – 21 football anymore so the last international break I didn’t get called up to anyone. Next one maybe we ’ ll see,”

    The 21- year- old defender was born in Canada to Nigerian parents and currently living in England, the country he represented at the U-21 level.

    Chelsea Manager Frank Lampard has called on the player to ignore the rumors surrounding his International future and focus on his development at Chelsea.

    Lampard said: ‘It’s his choice. I wouldn’t tell him where to play internationally.”

    “But he’s played for [England] Under-21s and if he continues with his form and keeps improving then, of course, I would expect there to be potential for England if Gareth chooses to select him.

    ‘He shouldn’t worry about it at the minute.

    “He should just worry about how he’s playing every game or how he trains every day and that will be a nice problem for him, hopefully, if he’s eligible for three. He can choose which one he wants.”

    Tomori played for Derby County in the Championship last season under Frank Lampard and he won the (POTY) player of the year award with the team where he scored one goal in 44 appearances.

  • IAAF disqualifies Okagbare, Oduduru from 200m, 4x100m

    Nigeria duo of Divine Oduduru and Blessing Okagbare have been disqualified from taking part in the men and women’s 200m and 4x100m relays of the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) for breaching of competition rules.

    The athletes, who were initially registered to participate in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay in the male and female events, pulled out of the 100m to concentrate on the remaining two.
    Their decision however contravenes the IAAF rule which states that any athlete, who withdraws from an event after being confirmed in the final entry list, will have to forfeit subsequent events.

    An excerpt of the competition rules states:

    At all competitions under Rules 1.1(a), (b), (c) and (f), an athlete shall be excluded from participation in all further events (including) other events in which he is simultaneously participating) in the competition, including relays, in cases where:

    (a) a final confirmation was given that the athlete would start in an event but then failed to participate. Note: A fixed time for the final confirmation of participation shall be published in advance.

    Nigeria will only have Emmanuel Arowolo in the heat 5 of the men’s 200m which holds on Sunday at the renovated multi-purpose Khalifa International Stadium.
    2019 African Games gold medalist, Raymond Ekevwo did not make it to the final of the men’s 100m as he placed fifth with a time of 10.20s in semifinals heat 2.
    Rilwan Alowonle also placed eighth with a time of 52.01s in the Men’s 400mH semifinal heat 3.

    Edose Ibadin didn’t qualify for the semifinals of the Men’s 800m event as he finished in sixth position with a time of 1:47.91 in Heat 6.

  • BREAKING: Kidnappers free Siasia’s mother, others

    The 80-year-old Ogere, mother of former Super Eagle skipper and coach, Samson Siasia, has been released by her abductors

     

    Details Shortly ………….

    .

  • Manny Pacquiao: Famous boxer and man of many parts

    Filipino world champion Manny Pacquiao is one of the top boxers today. He is known all over the world for his excellent fighting skills and for reaching a tremendous height of success. But he is more than just a boxer.

    Today, he stands for change and for being a multi-faceted talent who has done well in several other sports. He has also tried his hand at several other fields, like music, and even serving in the army.

    He won 10 world titles and is the first and only eight-division world champion. Pacquiao achieved the lineal championship titles in four different weight categories.

    Manny Pacquiao is chairman senate committee on ethics

    The Senator was also seen promoting the MP BL Dubai Invasion basketball event at Hamdan Sports Complex. The interesting thing about him is that whichever sports ventures into he fits in so perfectly.

    A politician, Senator, an actor, a boxer, basketballer so many things rolled into one and he keeps looking younger by the day and to say his exploits is having a lot of positive impact on the youths is to put it mildly and they don’t hide their appreciation of him. Avigali Flores a make -up artist while commenting on Gulfnews story on the boxer has this to say ;

    “Two things that attract me to Manny Pacquiao are his personality and his large heart. Even though he didn’t have much while growing up, he has shown the entire world how people can touch the lives of others. He deserves every bit of praise as he has never shown even an inkling of pride. He treats everyone equal, Pacquiao is simply one of a kind.”

     

     

     

  • FG disconnects 2.2 million improperly registered mobile telephone lines

    The Federal Government has blocked 2,277,311 improperly registered mobile telephone lines across the country, the Ministry of Communications said on Saturday.

    They were among the 9.2 million lines which the authorities said earlier in the month to be improperly registered.

    The ministry said 6,830,249 of the lines were revalidated by September 25, the deadline of an ultimatum on the regularisation of the lines.

    The deactivation of the lines followed a directive issued to the Nigeria Communications Commission by the Minister of Communications, Dr. Isa Pantami.

    Read Also: Unregistered SIM cards pit minister against telcos

    The Deputy Director/Head Information/Press and PR Unit of the ministry, Mrs Philomena Oshodin, said in a statement in Abuja that “Pantami has reiterated the need for all improperly registered SIM cards to remain blocked until they are properly registered.”

    The minister directed that “the profiles of persons linked to crime, aided and abetted by the use of SIM cards, should be promptly provided to the relevant security agencies when requested and a copy is sent to him for monitoring.”

    Pantami commended NCC and the telecoms operators for working hard to carry out the directive in record time.