Tinubu Is Not Sick, Afikuyomi Replies Lalong By Ramon Oladimeji

Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi, a close ally of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has refuted the claim by the Plateau State Governor, Solomon Lalong, that the former governor of Lagos is sick.

Lalong had claimed that Tinubu was absent at the last Saturday’s Ondo State APC governorship rally because of ill-health.

But in a press release issued in Lagos on Tuesday, Afikuyomi described the claim credited to Lalong as absolutely incorrect.

Fulani Herdsmen killed 102, Injured 215, Burnt 50,000 Houses In Kaduna – CAN

The Christian Association of Nigeria on Wednesday said that over 102 villagers in Godogodo and Gidan Waya communities in Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State had been killed by Fulani herdsmen in the last six months.

The organisation added that 50,000 houses were burnt in 25 Christian communities, while  215 people were injured in Kaduna State within six months by the herdsmen.

Department of Surplus Service’, By Dele Agekameh

If the presidency really wanted to emulate more advanced democracies, it ought to know that to prosecute a person who has mastery of the law, one needs to be clinical and it is best to catch them in the act…

Recently, the Department of State Services (DSS) carried out unprecedented arrests of some judges of superior courts in the country. This Gestapo-style operation attracted both uproar and applaud, but the question nobody is asking is: To what end?

One Down: Ambode Scrab Monthly Environmental Sanitation

The Lagos State Government has declared that the monthly environmental sanitation exercise will no longer hold.

The cancellation of the exercise, which usually holds every last Saturday of the month, came after the state Executive Council approved a review of the environmental laws and procedures in the state at its meeting on Wednesday, November 23.

Timi Frank, Erisco Foods and Other Unsettling Stories, By Zainab Suleiman Okino

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If things continue this way, the ruling APC is set on self-destruction which will become manifest in 2019. Perhaps, some day the story of how a party that supplanted PDP’s 16-year rule in an election that was akin to an uprising/revolution could only survive for four years.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has dropped all pretences and is now true to itself—a typical Nigerian political party that makes campaign promises without the slightest intention to fulfill them; a party that brooks no criticisms and without internal crisis management mechanism; a party that uses and dumps; and a party that dispenses with ‘erring’ members at will. Can you spot the dying PDP in the mix? What do you expect anyway? At PDP’s Olympian height, it was like the APC of today. A former scribe and chieftain of the party, once told me in an interview that the party can dispense with any member. It was in the wake of the party’s revalidation exercise in 2006 or thereabouts. “Why do you go to the treadmill other than to shed weight” in reference to the party’s attempt then to weed out people, aimed mainly at then Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who was engaged in a bitter rivalry with his boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Girl of 18 Arraigned For Stealing Goods Worth N20m In Lekki

An 18-year-old defendant, Lydia Shamshi, was, yesterday, arraigned before a Lagos Magistrate’s Court at Igbosere for alleged theft of property worth N20,000,000, property of one Bamidele Ademola Olateju. The defendant, who resides at 1, Val Ifeanyi Close, Bakare II Estate in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State, is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing, preferred against them by the police.

FG to send 10 ex-militants for helicopter training

The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) is to deploy 10 beneficiaries of the programme for helicopter training at the International Helicopter Flying School, Enugu.

The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, retired Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

Trump, the Tragic Case of Bridget Agbahime and the Death of a Nation, By Chido Onumah

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By not bringing the killers of Agbahime to book, the Nigerian state is inadvertently telling us that us that ours is a lawless state; that Nigeria is Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia, where warlords rule and deranged zealots exert “justice” based on their demented vision of religious codes.

Two weeks ago, while the world faced the frightening prospect of a Trump presidency in the US, an equally tragic event took place thousands of kilometres away in Nigeria. Except that in the case of Nigeria, the people did not elect—pardon the pun—to foist on themselves the cataclysm that may yet consume the nation. Both events—the emergence of Trump as president-elect and the “not guilty” verdict pronounced by the judiciary, and by extension the Nigerian state, on some vermin in human skin posing as God’s arbiters, bear uncanny similarities.

Imperative of A Peaceful And Credible Ondo Governorship Election By Jide Ojo

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It is 48 hours to the fourth off-cycle governorship election the Independent National Electoral Commission will be conducting after the 2015 general elections. In November and December last year, INEC conducted governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states. Then, on September 28, 2016, it was the turn of the Edo State. On Saturday, November 26, it shall be the lot of the people of the Sunshine State of Ondo to vote their next governor who will take over the leadership mantle from the medical doctor-turned politician, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, popularly known as Iroko. Mimiko is serving out his second term having got judicial victory on February 23, 2009 almost two years after the April 2007 election in which INEC declared former Governor Olusegun Agagu as the winner. Both Justices Garuba Nabaruma and Umaru Abdullahi panels of the Electoral Petitions Tribunal and Appeal Court respectively had reversed Agagu’s victory and declared Mimiko the rightful winner of the 2007 governorship election.

Incompetence At The Heart of Government By Emmanuel Nwachukwu

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When the President’s wife, Aisha Buhari, recently expressed concerns about the calibre of presidential appointments, she spoke for many. Ardent supporters of the President are now openly questioning the lack of direction of this administration. It is almost two years since this government came to power and the President has yet to articulate his vision for the country. People need hope. The country needs to know where their Commander-in-Chief sees Nigeria in five, 10 or 20 years time and the government’s strategy for achieving this vision articulated clearly with deliverables and timelines.

EXCLUSIVE: Nigerian Army Officially Declares 46 Soldiers Missing | PremiumTimes

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The Nigerian Army has officially declared one officer and 45 soldiers missing in a major Boko Haram attacks five weeks ago, PREMIUM TIMES can report.

Consequently, the Army authorities have formally informed the families of the 46 personnel of the fate of their loved ones and requested that their next of kin forward bank details for onward remittance of accrued payments, military sources told PREMIUM TIMES.

The sources said the declaration and notification were contained in a November 20 notice sent by M. Jimoh, the new commander of the Nigerian Army 145 Task Force Battalion in Damasak, Borno State.

Researchers Identify Antibody That Kills 98% of HIV Strains

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Scientists may be getting closer to finding an effective way to prevent transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). After decades of research, the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced a “remarkable” breakthrough in prevention and treatment of the highly contagious disease. They successfully isolated an antibody from an HIV-infected patient that, in lab tests, neutralized 98 percent of HIV strains, including up to 20 that were resistant to other antibodies of the same class. The antibody, named N6, could someday unlock the key to future treatments or prevention methods.

2 things every lover should know about engagements

If you fall in love with the right person and somehow avoid all the pitfalls that people face in the early months of a relationship, then, surely an engagement can’t be too far off, right?

So you and that sweetheart of yours reach the phase of your relationship, where the obvious, right thing to do is come together as one, and form a glorious matrimonial bond.

When a proposal is made and accepted, it might feel like everything is done, dusted and settled.

Microsoft CEO laughs at Apple for making iPad Pro like Surface | Cnet

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Words can come back to haunt you.

Sometimes, they even slap you about the chops while sniggering: “Heh, heh, heh.”

And so it is that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has taken some of Tim Cook’s words and gently wafted them right back at him.

In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Nadella mused on the increasing success of the Surface.

Trump Backs Out of Meeting With New York Times | CNN

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President-elect Donald Trump backed out of a meeting he had called with The New York Times on Tuesday.
Trump had asked for the meeting with Times executives, and also agreed to meet on the record with reporters and columnists.

He said on Twitter that the “terms and conditions” were changed at the last minute — a claim The Times denied.
“Not nice,” Trump said in an early morning tweet. He called the newspaper “failing,” a favorite insult.

In Plateau: Government incurs N18bn debt in 8yrs

The Government of Plateau State has announced that it incurred a debt of N18bn during the eight-year tenure of outgoing Governor, Jonah Jang.

This was disclosed by the Commissioner for Information, Mohammed Badu after the State Executive Council meeting in Jos.

Ondo: Supreme Court Okays Hearing On Jegede’s Appeal

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Court of Appeal to continue hearing on the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ondo State, Eyitayo Jegede, challenging the decision of a federal high court to substitute him with the billionaire businessman, Jimoh Ibrahim, as the party candidate for the November 26 governorship election in the state.

Jonah Jang: EFCC probes ex-Plateau governor over missing N2bn

EFCC is investigating former Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang over alleged misappropriation of public funds, reports say.

Jang is said to be under the EFCC’s spotlight due to his inability to account for billions of naira allocated to the state during his tenure.

“Under Jonah Jang as governor of Plateau State, N2 billion was released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for Small and Medium Scale (SME) businesses in Plateau State. The N2 billion was released to Jang in April 2015, a month before the expiration of his administration. The money disappeared. And there’s no trace or evidence that SMEs in Plateau State benefited from the CBN fund meant,” a source told The Nation.

Nigerian Monarch Takes Shell To Court In London, Presents Polluted Water | Punch

King Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi holds up a plastic bottle containing contaminated water from his community in Nigeria, proof of oil pollution that he blames on Royal Dutch Shell — and on which he hopes a London court will deliver justice.

“My people are drinking this water,” said the tribal king of the Ogale community in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

Okpabi has flown to London for a High Court hearing on Tuesday in which lawyers for more than 40,000 Nigerians are demanding action from Shell to clean up oil spills that have devastated their communities for decades.

Jonah Jang: How cashier allegedly withdrew N16.7b for ex-Gov

 A Judicial Commission of Inquiry has alleged that N16.7 billion, withdrawn by the office of the Secretary to the Plateau State Government (SSG), under Gov Jonah Jang’s administration, has not been accounted for.

The commission, which was set up to probe activities of Jang’s eight years as governor, made the allegation on Tuesday in Jos.

The commission announced the said discovery while examining witnesses with respect to a memo against Sen. Jonah Jang and the Office of the Secretary to the State Government.

Senate moves to stop jungle justice

The Nigerian Senate has finalised moves to stop the practise of jungle justice in the country.

Senators on Tuesday, November 22, 2106, frowned at the practise and called on the Minister of Justice, state Attorney Generals and the Police to arrest and prosecute those involved.

Work Without Pay By Tola Adeniy

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This piece you are about to read is likely to offend my friends in government and in several establishments across the country. Governors in 33 out of the 36 states in the Nigerian territory who have not been able to pay their workers as promptly and regularly as when due, administrators of universities and several tertiary institutions who are owing their workers, chief executives of banking and financial institutions who are owing arrears of salaries and even authorities of police institution, and agencies charged with paying our illustrious pensioners are all going to go up in arms raising curses on my big head. So be it.

Saraki reveals source of his wealth

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, in an interview, has revealed how he amassed his wealth.

Saraki, who spoke to the Abuja editor of BBC Hausa service, Naziru Mikaliu, said he does not know how much he is worth, Premium Times reports.

Here is an excerpt of the Senate President’s interview obtained from Premium Times.

Q: What is in the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB?

A: What we have tried to do with the good governance institution is to try and work out an environment that is in the petroleum sector to ensure transparency, good governance, reduce duplication, ensure efficiency in the petroleum sector. We spent about four to five months working on that and its good to see that finally we have got to a stage where it passed second reading, which had not been achieved before now.

Inside Oyo: Hunters aka Agbekoya, police clash leaves 1 dead

One hunter was reportedly killed in a clash between members of Agbekoya (a professional hunters’ group) and the police on Tuesday, November 23, 2016.

According to Punch, an eyewitness revealed that the issue started when policemen attached to the Ogbere Onilanta police station, stopped the hunters.

The eyewitness also said “The hunters were going for a meeting when they were stopped by the policemen for reckless driving. One of them came down and assaulted a policeman, which resulted in an argument. Suddenly, there were shootings and after a while, one of the hunters fell and was arrested while others fled the scene, leaving behind one of the cars they came with.”

Ondo: Tinibu’s Absence At APC Rally Makes No Difference – Lalong By Levinus Nwabughiogu

ABUJA – Plateau State Governor and Chairman, All Progressives Congress, APC campaign Committee for Ondo State Governorship election, Mr. Simon Lalong has stated that victory was sure for his party in the Saturday election even without the participation of most national leaders of the party at the grand finale.

He stated the absence of the National leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and others at the rally attended by President Muhammadu Buhari didn’t matter to the party. Though, he acknowledged that their absence was on health ground and that they apologized, Lalong however said that the President’s presence was a great booster.