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Tag: Popular Nigeria News

  • NASS: Igbo won’t beg for positions, says Iwuanyanwu

    Prominent Igbo leader and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has said that the Southeast region will not be subjected to begging for the position of President of the Senate or Speaker of the House of Representatives.

    Iwuanyanwu, who spoke with The Nation in Owerri, the Imo State capital, argued that it is the right of the Southeast to produce the Senate President as a major stakeholder in the Nigerian project.

    This, he said, was after the North and the South West have emerged President and Vice President respectively.

    According to him, the current arrangement in the sharing of principal offices in the National Assembly by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is to further undermine the Igbo as one the three major tribes that make up the country.

    He observed the Igbo have made great contributions in the development and unity of the nation and should not be treated with levity at all times.

    His words: “The Southeast will not beg for the position of the Senate President or Speaker of the House of Representatives.

    “Igbo are not fools, Igbo have talented people. We have no doubt in our mind that we are being marginalised.

    “Let me tell other parts of Nigeria how the Igbo feel about issues, Igbo feel they are part of the success of Nigeria right from the time this country was founded.

    Read Also: Cut NASS salaries; no VAT hike

    “The Igbo have done better than most tribes in Nigeria, Igbo have distributed their resources across the nation.

    “Right now the Igbo are very unhappy. We have been pushed to a point of contempt and ridicule.

    “There are some people in this country who just ridicule us, some even say that the Igbo have been sacked from this country.

    “Take for instance the issue of the railway, none passed through Igboland and this is being financed with a loan that all of us will repay”.

    Iwuanyanwu also disclosed that the Igbo do not have anything against President Muhammadu Buhari as insinuated.

    According to him: “The Igbo have nothing against Buhari at all but a fundamental mistake was made in 2015 when a son of the Eastern region, Goodluck Jonathan was running for a second term. The Igbo felt he needed a second term but that does not mean that they hated Bubari in anyway”.

  • We won’t return to palace, Ibadan Obas dare Olubadan

    The war of words raging between Ibadan first class monarch, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji and supposed members of his council under the aegis of Olubadan-in-council again got more fuel as the Ibadan Obas, comprising members of the Olubadan-in-council and promoted Baales on Wednesday kicked against the directive of the Olubadan urging them drop their crowns and return to the palace.

    The monarchs described the directive as hypocritical and an aspersion on the review of the laws governing traditional institution in Oyo State, which approves their installation as beaded crown wearing kings.

    Oba Adetunji had in a reaction to the various accusations leveled against him by the Obas asked the Olubadan-in-council members among them to remove their crowns and come back to the palace to perform their roles as members of his council.

    But the Obas, led by Otun Olubadan, Oba (Dr.) Lekan Balogun faulted the highly referred monarch, insisting that none of the issues raised in their allegations against the “nefarious activities going on in his palace such as non-screening of prospective Mogajis (family heads) and Baales (village head) by the council before installation; the cash and carry manner by which people now get positions of Mogaji and Baale, leading to the appointment of more than one Mogaji from the same compound and relinquishing of the palace authority to ‘Olori’ (the wife of the monarch) among others have been answered.”

    Read Also: Olubadan to Ibadan Obas: remove your illegal crowns

    The Ibadan Obas maintained that events had overtaken the court judgement being referred to, noting that aside the fact that there’s an appeal pending on the same judgement, the issue of review of the traditional law in the state had since become a statewide one, encompassing Ibadan and other cities and towns which till now has not been disputed.

    They also averred that the same reform which conferred on them the new titles of His Royal Majesties and Highnesses also elevated the Olubadan to His Imperial Majesty from

  • Ganduje receives Certificate of Return, pledges better future for Kano

    The lndependent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) on Wednesday issued certificate of return to Kano state Governor-elect Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, his deputy Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna and 27 elected state Lawmakers of APC.

    To this end, 13 state lawmakers-elect of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP boycotted the presentation ceremony held at the indoor sports hall of Sani Abacha stadium.

    Presenting the certificate of returns to the elected officers, the INEC national commissioner supervising Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states, Engr. Abubakar Nahuce urged political class in the country to always imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship and eschew a do-die politics.

    Nahuce, who congratulated the elected officers across the two political parties cautioned the winners to be magnanimous in their celebration.

    According to him, no human blood is worth shedding for the victory of any politician noting that INEC had conducted free and fair elections both at the presidential, national assembly and state levels.

    In his remarks, Governor of Kano, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said that his administration will remain focused on human development policies anchor on improved quality of education, socioeconomic growth, boost agricultural system and making Kano investment destination.

    Rolling out his agender for the next for years, Ganduje said “We must ensure that all our young people receive quality education. We must ensure all our girls are educated, so we can unlock the 50% of economic output currently not being accessed by our society due to the low participation of women”.

    According to him, “Our future does not lie on oil or any of the things we currently fight about. Our future cannot be built with handouts or dependency. Our future lies in the minds of our people.

    “Our heroes of the past have shown that it is possible to develop sustainably and self sufficiently. This is how we know that building a sustainable future is possible. In order to access that future, we must develop the minds of our people.

    “Our future lies in providing 21st-century knowledge and resources to our young people, so they can lead the development of a modern Kano State”.

    Ganduje added that “We must also make sure that our state becomes an attractive destination for investment and business, with a focus on the investments which improve our human capacity.

    “Agriculture is already the mainstay of our people – our plan is to attract investment which increases our outputs and unlock economic growth for all of us. We cannot wait until, May 29 to welcome this new future. The future begins now, today.”

    He revealed that, “Over the next few weeks, I will be unveiling a series of plans to ensure every child from Kano receives quality education, including computer and technology education, to ensure that in 15 years, Kano is the most educated state in sub-saharan Africa, and the most attractive destination for the world’s leading technology-driven businesses.

    Read Also: We’re ready for PDP in court , says Ganduje

    “Our government cannot do this alone. We will also unveil extensive plans and incentives for partners and private investors to come build businesses in Kano. If you want to set up innovative businesses or educational institutions, Kano is waiting to welcome you.

    “We will also unveil a plan to partner with our local communities to ensure even the poorest of our communities have access to schools to educate their children to make sure we all grow together.

    “Whether you are rich, middle class, or in our most local locations, Kano will welcome you and together build a collective wealth of the future. I call on every citizen of Kano State, every resident and supporter, the time to build the future is now. Let us do this together”. Ganduje concluded.

  • Rivers: Wike close to victory as collation continues

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike is close to be re-elected going by ongoing collation of the March 9 governorship election.

    The governor, who is of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) has polled 763, 603 so far leaving his African Action Congress(AAC) main challenger,  Awara Biokpomabo, with just 162, 180 votes.

    A total of 19 LGAs have so far been collated as at Wednesday morning.

    Two more results from Ahoada West and Gokana LGAs are being expected.

    However, two LGAs, Khana and Abual/Odual will be outstanding to complete the 23 LGAs in the state.

    As it stands, there is possibility that the Governorship result collation committee will declare the final results today.

    If that happens, then the expected re-run elections in the two LGAs, (Khana and Abua/Odual), may no longer hold.

    Read Also: Court dismisses AAC’s suit against Rivers election

    Meanwhile the two main contenders have polled:

    PDP-763,603

    AAC -162, 180

    The committee is to reconvene by 3:00pm for collation of Ahoada West and Gokana LGAs results.

    The results of LGAs collated Wednesday morning is as follows:

    Ogu/Bolo LGA

    PDP-11, 855

    AAC-814

    Obio/Akpor LGA

    PDP-281, 164

    AAC- 7, 495

    Asari-Toru LGA

    PDP- 32, 172

    AAC- 18, 945

    Degema LGA

    PDP- 12,133

    AAC-5, 071

  • 2019 UTME: JAMB reschedules printing of exam slips to April 4

    The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has rescheduled printing of the 2019/20 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) slips to Thursday, April 4.

    JAMB’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dr Fabian Benjamin disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.

    NAN reports that the printing of the examination slips was initially scheduled to begin on Tuesday, April 2.

    Benjamin said the shift in date came after 14 Computer Based Tests (CBT) centres were on Monday, suspended due to infractions during the board’s conduct of Mock UTME, including an incident where JAMB staff were attacked at one of its centres.

    “The suspension has caused some distortion in the initial arrangement and the board will have to relocate candidates who were scheduled to write in the affected centres to other suitable centres.

    “We all know that one of the essence of the mock exercise was to check the level of preparedness of not only candidates but also centres that keep to the rules and regulations of the board.

    “It is to check on centres that are desperate to cheat and to make sure that they do not achieve their aim.

    “Immediately after the exercise yesterday, we went into a meeting and examined the conduct of the exercise, identified the structural problems and made adjustments immediately.

    “We want to ensure no centre fails during the conduct of the exercise.

    “So we need today and tomorrow to redistribute the candidates affected by these suspended centres who had planned to extort them, defraud and frustrate the system, to centres that are more suitable, then printing can begin Thursday. ”

    He added that the board was putting all hands on deck to ensure that candidates sat for the examination in centres where they were safe, suitable and conducive for the exercise that would be globally accepted.

    He apologised to all candidates of the examination for the inconvenience caused, adding that the board’s intention remained to give its best, and ensure a hitch-free and successful exercise.

    NAN recalls that Prof. Ishaq Oloyede on Monday said that the board had de-listed 14 CBT centres out of the 712 accredited due to infractions like technical hitch and deceit.

    He also said that two staff of the board were attacked at Lagos state Polytechnic centre and were almost murdered but were rescued.
    Oloyede said the 698 centres left in the operations were ready for the conduct of the UTME scheduled to hold between April 11 and April 15.

  • Obasanjo to PDP: Purge yourselves of bad eggs, hypocrites ahead of 2023

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on has urged the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to purge itself of “bad eggs and hypocrites,” whom he said, lacked commitment to return the opposition party to its lost glory.

    Obasanjo rued that many of the PDP leaders are still preoccupied with what ministers to “their pockets and stomach,” wondering why some of them left the party while others lost hope the seconds the results of 2019 Presidential election were announced.

    The elder statesman spoke on Sunday evening, when the Southwest PDP leaders led by the party’s National Vice Chairman (South West), Dr Eddy Olafeso, visited him at his Pent-House Residence within the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, Ogun State.

    In attendance at the meeting are; Senate Minority Leader, Biodun Olujimi, Senators-elect, Oyo South, Kola Balogun, Ondo Central, Ayo Akinyelure, Rep-elect (Ibarapa North and Central), Hon Ajibola Muraina, former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former Minister for State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada and PDP gubernatorial candidate in Ekiti State 2018 election, Prof Olusola Eleka,

    Obasanjo told his guests that Nigerian situation demands a vibrant voice and opposition in PDP to engender a virile democracy.

    The former Head of States also bemoaned the failure of leadership in the country, saying Nigeria can’t move forward “if we continue the way we are.”

    Obasanjo whose Coalition for Nigerian Movement (CNM) failed to provide a formidable force to unhorse President Muhammadu Buhari and his the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the centre, advised PDP to purge itself of “hypocrites and bad eggs.”

    He noted that the purging exercise would put the party on a higher pedestal to scout for those he called “critical mass of committed people,” who “would be ready to stand with the party come rain, come shine.”

    Obasanjo said: “I knew PDP would lose election in 2015 because it was clear. And I knew PDP will need to be rebuilt after losing the election.

    “You need what I call critical mass of committed people, and come rain, come shine they are committed. With that, you can make Nigeria better.

    “You see peoples’ faces beautiful but you don’t know what each person harbours inside of him. If you discover a bad egg, remove such a person. And if such person has learnt his or her lessons there can still be room to accommodate the person.

    “Politically speaking, you can’t be my friend if you don’t buy into the Nigeria’s project. For me, till death, I will continue to push for a better Nigeria.

    “I said if you compare the two of them (referring to Atiku and Buhari); with what I know and all I have written about the incumbent which they have decided to cover up, Atiku is better than the incumbent by far. That’s the point I am

  • My feminism is human rights, says actress Genevieve Nnaji

    Nollywood screen diva, Genevieve Nnaji says she is a woman who has rights to choices and can do whatever she feels like.

    Nnaji, who spoke as a guest speaker at the recently held London School of Economics Africa Summit in London, said feminism is human rights which give her the ability to make choices on her own terms.

    “My own feminism is just human rights. I’m a woman who has rights to her own choices; I can do whatever I want whenever I want.

    “It’s just that simple; if I were a man, it would be the same thing.

    “At the end of the day I was born alone, I’m going to die alone, I breathe alone. So I definitely have the right to how I want to live my life,” the 39 year old award-winning actress said.

    On September 7, 2018, her directorial debut ‘Lionheart’ was acquired by online streaming service Netflix making it the first Netflix original film from Nigeria.

    The movie had its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.

    She is a recipient of several awards and nominations which include Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2005, making her the first actress to win the award In 2011.

    She was honored as a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic by the Nigerian government for her contribution to Nollywood.

    In November 2015, Nnaji produced her first movie called ‘Road to Yesterday’ later winning Best Movie Overall-West Africa at the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards.

  • NASS: CAN seeks religious balance in principal positions

    Ahead of the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly, the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria ( CAN ) on Monday pleaded with the incoming leadership to balance the appointments of Principal officers across religious divides.

    Yielding to the advice, CAN said it will avoid domination and marginalisation of any kind in the interest of equity, justice, and fair play as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.

    The religious body also urged both the Presidency and the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to: “support the position of the Association in its quest to find an enduring peace, unity and development for our Fatherland. Doing this will go a long way in fixing some of the problems confronting our country today that are rooted in religious, tribal suspicion, domination and marginalisation at every level of the government.”

    A statement issued in Abuja by Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, Special Assistant, (Media & Communications), to the CAN President, Rev Dr Samson Ayokunle reads: “The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) congratulates all the newly elected members of the National Assembly on their victory at the recently conducted general election. It is our prayers that God who granted you the victory will not let you down. You will experience a successful tenure of office. You will not disappoint God and the people who gave you the mandate.

    “As you prepare for your inauguration, CAN urges you to balance the appointments of your Principal Officers across religious divides to avoid domination and marginalisation of any kind in the interest of equity, justice, and fair play as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution (as amended). We, from the Christian Association of Nigeria, recognize the importance of the National Assembly to the stability and growth of our polity.

    “It is in this regard that we call for ethnic and religious balance with depth in picking the leadership of that great institution of democracy. To ensure that this happens is to remove any apprehension and suspicion harboured towards the leadership of this country.

    “Although both the Senate and the House of Representatives have several principal officers but our focus here are the Senate President, the Deputy Senate President, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. As it has been the practice since 1999, whenever the Senate President is a Christian, the Speaker of the House has always been a Muslim and vice- versa. And the same thing happens to their deputies.”

  • Updated: Court renews arrest warrant against Nollywood actress Monalisa Chinda

    A Lagos High Lagos in Igbosere on Monday renewed a bench warrant for the arrest of actress and producer, Monalisa Chinda Coker, over a tax evasion charge.

    Justice Adedayo Akintoye renewed the order for Coker’s arrest following her failure to appear in court for trial, allegedly since 2017.

    She adjourned further proceedings till June 5.

    When the case was called Monday, neither Coker nor her lawyer was present.

    Prosecution counsel Babatunde Sumonu told the judge that the bench warrant had yet to be effected.

    “The bench warrant is to continue,” Justice Akintoye held.

    The judge made the original order for Coker’s arrest last January 21, following an application by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice.

    The state alleged that Coker repeatedly failed to honour a court summons.

    The application for her arrest flowed from a two-count charge accusing Coker of failure to file annual tax returns and pay income tax in respect of her company, Monalisa Code Productions, for six years.

    Monalisa Code Productions carries on its business from Lekki in Lagos.

    On January 21, prosecution counsel, Y. A. Pitan told Justice Akintoye that Coker had not appeared in court since 2017, when the charge was filed against her.

    “The defendant has been served with hearing notice. The proof of service is in the court’s file,” Pitan said, while making an application for the bench warrant.

    Granting the application, Justice Akintoye adjourned further proceedings till February 2.

    But on February 2, the court heard that the bench warrant had yet to be effected.

    It ordered that the warrant should continue and adjourned till Monday.

    Count one of the charges, marked LD/5712c/2017, reads in part: “Failure to furnish and file annual tax returns for the purpose of personal income taxation with the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) contrary to Section 94(1) of the Personal Income Tax Act 2004 (as amended).”

    The particulars of the count stated that Coker “of Monalisa Code Productions, being a taxable person in Nigeria and carrying on business at… Lekki… failed to furnish and file tax returns on your personal income for the years 2011 to 2016.”
    Count two reads: “Failure to pay income tax contrary to Section 56 of the Lagos State Revenue Administration Law of 2006.”

  • Police intercept bus laden with stolen PMS

    The police in Lagos on Sunday said they intercepted a Fiat bus laden with sacs of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) suspected to have been stolen.

    The recovery, according to spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) was made on March 28, around 12:30pm at Canoe in Ejigbo.

    In a statement released Sunday afternoon, Elkana said policemen on anti-crime patrol led by Sergeant Sunday Joseph had suspected the bus with registration number LND825BC.

    The contrasting paints on the bus- Lagos commercial vehicles colour in front and blue at the back- was said to have aroused the suspicion of the policemen who drew closer to the vehicle to interrogate the occupants.

    But on sighting the policemen, Elkana said the three occupants jumped out of the vehicle running in different directions.

    “The policemen pursued them and caught up with one of them, Wasiu Oyewole of 3, Oluwaseyi Street, Agodo Egbe, Lagos. The other two escaped.

    “The suspect confessed that he and his cohorts loaded the bus with multiple sacs laden with PMS. He claimed further that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
    (NNPC) pipeline was bust in Owutu, Agric in Ikorodu where the products were loaded while their intended sales point was Ijegun.

    “Efforts are being made to track other accomplices who jumped off the vehicle on sighting the police. Meanwhile, NNPC officials have been contacted to decant the product.”