Genevieve Nnaji and Nollywood’s newest addition Oris Erhuero, are the cover stars for the latest edition of Vanguard Allure.
The pair who co-starred in Genevieve’s new movie, Road to Yesterday, cut striking positions for the magazine. … The actress shared images of the photo shoot for the magazine….
TB Joshua and two contractors facing trial for criminal negligence over a church building collapse that killed 116 worshippers failed to appear in court on Monday, prompting the judge to adjourn the case. The case at the Lagos high court followed a coroner’s ruling in July that blamed Joshua’s Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) and two engineers for the September 12, 2014 tragedy.
Most of the victims were South African. Coroner Oyetade Komolafe in his verdict attributed the collapse to structural failures and said the church should be prosecuted as the six-storey guesthouse did not have planning permission.
Joshua, who maintains the collapse was caused by a mysterious “hovering” aircraft seen over the building beforehand or a controlled explosion, repeatedly failed to appear at the inquest.
At court on Monday, Joshua was again absent, as were the two engineers who have called the coroner’s verdict “unreasonable, one-sided and biased”. One member of the church’s trustees was present. The hearing was told the engineers, who have unsuccessfully tried to obtain an injunction to prevent their arrest and prosecution, had not been served with a summons.
Judge Lawal Akapo said he was unhappy at the defendants’ absence and said he would not tolerate any unnecessary delays of the trial. “It appears the defendants are not mindful that this is a criminal proceeding. This is a criminal trial and a sensitive matter like this one should be given accelerated hearing,” he said.
He directed the defence team to provide the court with the engineers’ addresses within 72 hours and adjourned the case until December 11. Joshua, who counts powerful politicians from across Africa among his flock, is known to followers as “The Prophet” and “The Man of God”. He is a self-styled faith healer and mystic who also runs a popular evangelical television channel.
The running mate to the late Prince Abubakar Audu in the November 21 governorship election in the state, Mr James Faleke, has vowed to reclaim the mandate of the people of the state given freely to the APC during the election.
Faleke who has been picked as the substitute for the late Abubakar Audu, made this assertion while addressing hundreds of APC supporters in Lokoja on Monday.
Quoting a section of the constitution while picking Mohammed Audu as his running mate, he pointed out that attempts to snatch power from the reins of the APC in Kogi State were fruitless as the party is poised to chart a new course for the state.
He explained that there is no contention between him and the immediate political family of late Abubakar Audu and described the task ahead as a moral burden on him to fight on, till the victory of APC is accomplished.
Going back to the primary election conducted on August 28, 2015, he noted that he remained the only person holding on to the votes cast for the APC.
Some APC leaders from the three senatorial districts of the state were present as Mr Faleke made his decision known to his supporters.
As the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) meets today to take a final decision on who it shall field to replace the late Alhaji Abubakar Audu who died before the conclusion of the Kogi State governorship election, his running mate, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, has rejected his nomination as the probable running mate to the party’s purported choice to replace Audu, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, for the supplementary election slated for Saturday.
Faleke, the running to the late Prince Abubakar Audu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the inconclusive November 21 governorship poll has rejected the offer to be running mate to Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the party’s new candidate for the supplementary election scheduled for December 5.
Faleke, in a new letter to the APC Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, entitled ‘My Purported Nomi-nation As Deputy Governor’, rejected his ‘purported and illegal nomination’ to Bello, saying “I remain the Governor-elect of Kogi state on the platform of our great party.” His new letter came to light on Sunday, just some irate youths chased away a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr Ahmadu Ali, and Sen. Nicholas Ugbane from the eighth-day Fridau prayers for Prince Abubakar Audu. While Ali was asked to go back at the main entrance of the house, Ugbane who managed to gain entrance, was chased out by the youths.
He escaped death by whiskers as stone throwing and stick wielding youths pursued him into a ditch, but his driver was able to maneuver and sped away The Chairman, Kogi State Council of Ullamahs, Sheikh Salman Adam, at the event, at Ogbonicha in Ofu Local Government area, advised Muslims to live a life of piety and cultivate the spirit of generousity. Faleke, in his letter, said he remained fully committed to his joint ticket with Audu, which he noted received the blessings of the party leadership, including Chief Odigie-Oyegun.
He noted that the APC had the highest number of votes of 240,867 against PDP’s 199,514 in the governorship poll, leaving a difference of 41,353, adding that with the death of Audu, he remains the governor-elect on the platform of the party. Said he: “Please take this letter as conformation to dissociate myself from this unusual and strange supplementary nomination of my humble self as running mate to Alhaji Yahaya Bello. This also serves as a notice of REJECTION of the purported and illegal nomination of myself as running mate to Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
“I wish to put on record that I was neither consulted nor informed by anybody before my name was submitted as running mate to a man who has since the conduct of primaries, abandoned the party, took the party to court, worked for PDP thereby causing our party to lose his polling unit with 88 votes as against his ally party the PDP’s 116, repeating same feat at the ward level with APC scoring 1,146 to PDP’s 2,058 votes.” Faleke concluded his two page letter by saying,
“Please take note that I am not interested in surrendering the mandate which the people of Kogi State bestowed on the Audu/Faleke joint ticket at the November 21 polls as I REMAIN THE GOVERNOR-ELECT “Sir, I believe in the leadership of our great party to resolve this in the shortest possible time, failure upon which I shall be forced to seek redress in the court of law.”
Meanwhile, Sheikh Salman Adam, at Audu’s eighth-day prayer advised Muslims to live a life of piety and cultivate the spirit of generousity, saying this was necessary to prepare a place for themselves in paradise. Adam, who was assisted by over 100 other clerics, called on Nigerians to shun acquisition of wealth and corruption, stressing that what Allah had provided in paradise were far better than earthly riches. He urged Muslims to emulate the life of service to God and humanity that the late Audu lived, saying that death could come at anytime.
He described the death of Audu, the candidate of All Progressive Congress in the Nov. 21 governorship election in Kogi, as a big loss to the Igala nation and the whole country,. The Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Mr Yomi Awoniyi, in his brief remarks, said that it was difficult to quantify the death of Audu, describing it as a big blow to the government and people of the state. He said that the people would continue to remember the late Audu for his giant strides and landmark projects he established during his two tenures as the first civilian governor of the state.
Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, has accused some northern Islamic elites of indirectly sponsoring the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents.
Speaking on ‘the Muslim agenda for Nigeria: challenges of development and good governance’ at a conference organised by the Islamic Welfare Foundation at the Fountain University, Osogbo, Kukah said the fresh agitation for an Islamic state by Boko Haram could be traced to the promise made by northern leaders to ensure the total implementation of Sharia law.
He said, “A hypocritical elite continues to believe that it can claim the benefits of democracy but use it only to consolidate its hold on power. This is what has laid the foundation for what is now Boko Haram.
We must locate the current crisis of Boko Haram within the context of the inability of the northern Muslim elite to live by their own dubious creed of being Muslims. They preached Sharia Law but only for the poor. They preach a religion that encourages education, yet their own people are held in the bondage of ignorance.
“They did not wish to live by the same standards, so they decided to live their own Islam in the capitals of the world away from the prying eyes of their own people. Boko Haram began as a revolt against this mendacity, subterfuge and hypocrisy.”
“Now, I hear Muslims in northern Nigeria hiding under the cover of the facts by saying: ‘These Boko Haram people are not Muslims. They do not represent us’. Well, first, they are your own children. You must take responsibility for what has made them what they are today and to the rest of society.
“They claim they have been inspired by the Quran and no other holy book. They say they want to build an Islamic state. So, they are Muslims. After all, from the debates of the Constituent Assemblies of 1979, 1988, and 1995 and beyond, did their fathers and grandfathers not stage walkouts, demanding Sharia Law?
“The promise to institute Sharia has become the most potent tool for political mobilisation and organisation. Till date, the tactics may have changed, but the essence has not. Rather than face the tough questions of how and why over 15 million children in the northern states are on the streets; how and why the northern states are falling behind on almost every index of development, the northern Muslim elite continues to live for just the moment, with no plans for tomorrow.
“Should we pretend that a society that allows the forced marriages of its young daughters could frown on the idea of a group kidnapping and forcing young girls into sexual slavery? Islam must have an honest look at the mirror and have an internal discussion”, he stated.
The Catholic cleric urged northern leaders to stop pretending as if they did not know the root cause of Boko Haram.
He said they should ask themselves why Boko Haram was ‘headquartered’ in the North and not in other zones of the country.
“It is my considered view that northern Islam has to confront the realities of taking its religion into the modern world of democracy seriously. Muslims in northern Nigeria cannot accept democracy and reject the inclusive nature of its philosophy as it is the case today”, he added.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday, in Enugu called on the Federal Government to release Nnamdi Kanu, the detained Director of Radio Biafra and leader of IPOB, unconditionally.
Ohanaeze‘s directive was contained in a communique jointly signed by the National President of Ohanaeze, Chief Gary Enwo-Igariwey and the Secretary General, Dr. Joe Nworgu.
They said that agitations and public protests over Biafra had been exacerbated by the detention of Mr. Kanu, the director of Radio Biafra. At the meeting attended by representatives of both the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, and the Independent People of Biafra, IPOB, in Enugu yesterday, Ohanaeze further expressed displeasure over the continued incarceration of Kanu, saying that it was gravely concerned over current wide-spread public Biafra agitations in states of the South-East and some other states of Nigeria for the actualization of Biafra.
The communique read in part: “Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex socio-cultural organization of Ndigbo in Nigeria and the Diaspora, is gravely concerned by current wide-spread and public Biafra agitations in states of the South-East and some other states of Nigeria.
“These agitations and public protests have become exacerbated by the detention of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, the promoter/proprietor/director of Radio Biafra by Department of State Services, DSS.”
It further stated that “Ohanaeze Ndigbo fears that these developments may threaten the security and peaceful co-existence of Nigerians wherever they may be domiciled, and consequently, decided to summon an emergency meeting of Imeobi Ohanaeze Ndigbo to discuss the situation.
“This emergency meeting was held in Enugu at the National Secretariat of Ohanaeze Ndigbo on Sunday, (yesterday), November 29, 2015. Representatives of the various organizations and associations involved in the current public protest also attended the meeting.
“The Imeobi Ohanaeze Ndigbo, after extensive candid discussions and analysis of the situation is of the view that the current agitations are the direct result of the excruciating pain of severe injustice, marginalization and exclusion of Ndigbo from decision making structures in Nigeria as currently configured.
“The Imeobi Ohanaeze Ndigbo strongly avers that the exclusion of Ndigbo in decision making structure presents danger to the unity and well-being of the country, not only now, but also in future, and should be redressed urgently.
A coalition, Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC), has petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), calling for the debriefing and removal of one its lawyers’, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu SAN, for gross misrepresentation of the commission.
In a petition signed by the coalition’s chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, the group stated that that some lawyers engaged by the INEC are also defending political parties in a number of election petitions, which have just been concluded throughout the country.
“As contained in our letter dated 2nd June 2015 to your office, we have in the pursuit of our Election and Tribunal Monitoring Project demanded the debriefing of Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu SAN by the Commission and also the removal of his name from the list of Counsels to the Commission.
“That demand was to prevent further disregard for the Commission’s directives and accurate representation of the Commission in election petition before tribunal, where the counsel and some others are misrepresenting the Commission in their defences,“ the CSNAC petition continued.
CSNAC also noted that the lawyers contacted by INEC are also defending political parties in courtrooms across Nigeria.
The petition also read that, “in a most embarrassing manner, the INEC lawyers made legal submissions to the effect that the use of card readers was not made compulsory by the INEC during the 2015 General Elections.“
CSNAC also stated that some of these lawyers fought against the use of verification card readers by INEC, and that engaging with this legal counsel after that fact opens INEC to ridicule by Nigerians and the international community.
CSNAC called for the thorough vetting of all INEC consortium lawyers and that any legal counsel found to be engaged in the conflict of interest be removed for service.
The petition concluded by stating that INEC should “take notice that if our humble request is not met we shall have no other alternative than to sue the INEC for retaining lawyers who are using the name and resources of the INEC to subvert democracy in Nigeria.”
SaharaReporters has obtained information detailing the significant financial cost of trips undertaken by President Muhammadu Buhari and his entourage. The president’s trips since assuming office at the end of May, 2015 have now stretched to 14.As SaharaReporters reported two days ago, Mr. Buhari’s frequent foreign trips have drawn increasing criticism from politicians and pundits who question the wisdom of the trips at a time when several domestic crises, including a crushing fuel scarcity, incessant attacks by Boko Haram terrorists, and blackouts demand urgent and focused attention.
According to financial information obtained by our investigators, an average two-day long presidential trip costs between $350K and $500K. For instance, during Mr. Buhari’s recent trip to Tehran, the capital of Iran, the estacode for accompanying Presidency officials was $105K. In addition, transportation costs stood at $45K, accommodation 200K, honorarium $10K, contingency 20K, with media coverage costing $10K.
The breakdown for the forthcoming trip to Paris is as follows: the estacode for accompanying Presidency officials is $130K, transportation $55K, accommodation $270K, honorarium $10K, contingency 20K, media coverage $10K. The total cost for the trip is $495K
In the course of our investigation, SaharaReporters found that President Buhari is scheduled to make an immediate trip to South Africa. In fact, the trip is planned to follow immediately from Mr. Buhari’s visit to Paris, France. The cost of the forthcoming South African trip is as follows: Estacode for accompanying Presidency officials $110K, transportation $35K, accommodation 220K, honorarium $10K, contingency 20K, and media coverage $10K, for a total of $405K
A source at the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) said they have a separate budget for fueling the planes as well as allowances for the presidential air fleet commander, pilots and the air stewards. The Office of the National Security Adviser funds those expenses.
So, the costs uncovered by our investigators cover only personnel from Aso Rock Villa, aides, protocol officers, members of the press, security personnel, a cook, a luggage officer and a steward. The estacode did not reveal what President Buhari receives per night, as that expense is handled separately and secretly. In addition the Minister of Foreign Affairs and five members of his entourage who usually accompany President Buhari are not included in the costs as they get paid from the ministry’s budget.
SaharaReporters also discovered that the amounts for honorarium ($10K), contingency ($20K) and media coverage ($10K) are fixed for all trips. The State House Chief of Protocol handles honorarium and contingency while Femi Adesina, a senior assistant on media, handles $10K for “media coverage.”
Critics have come down hard on President Buhari for engaging in international junkets at a time of rising disillusionment, with Nigeria mired in a crippling fuel scarcity, continuing violence by Boko Haram, and an economic downturn that has put pressures on banks and numerous businesses.
Mr. Buhari has only visited four Nigerian states since coming to power. His much-anticipated visit to Lagos three days ago to launch anti-crime helicopter, boats and vehicles did not materialize, but led to a traffic meltdown.
A Facebook posting by SaharaReporters calling President Buhari a “junketer-in-chief” was widely shared and elicited viral response on social media.
Two sources at the Presidency told SaharaReporters that some of Mr. Buhari’s handlers were pressuring him to postpone his trip to South Africa in order to calm public anger.
Agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested some top-ranking officials of the Office of the National Security Adviser who worked under Sambo Dasuki, the office’s immediate former chief.
A highly placed security source confirmed the arrests to SaharaReporters. He added that the officials’ arrest was connected to the ongoing investigation of a $2 billion weapons contract scandal involving Mr. Dasuki, the erstwhile National Security Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The embattled former NSA, Sambo Dasuki, has been under intense pressure from law enforcement authorities over his alleged role in orchestrating the stealing of $2 billion meant for a massive arms contract. The allegedly stolen funds were intended to purchase weapons to fight Islamist terror group, Boko Haram.
Agents of the Department of State Services (DSS) raided Mr. Dasuki’s home as part of the widening investigation into the alleged heist. Mr. Dasuki, who denied stealing from Nigeria’s funds for the purchase of arms, has reportedly made a statement to investigators.
Subordinates of Mr. Dasuki who were arrested include Shuaibu Salisu, who was Mr. Dasuki’s Director of Finance as well as a staff member of the National intelligence Agency (NIA), Aminu Baba Kusa, fondly called “ABK,” a former General Executive Director at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and Mr. Kusa’s son, Mohammed Baba-Kusa.
Other former top officials of the NSA who are being held in connection with the arms contract scandal are Abba M.T. Usman, Evegny Kundaev, Attahiru Maccido, Salisa Umar Garu, Oyinmiebl Bribena, Olukoya Olusegun Godwin, and Olukayode Raimi. They are being investigated on charges ranging from criminal conspiracy, theft, forgery, the diversion of public funds, to money laundering.
Our security source disclosed that the arrested officials were being detained in separate cells, adding that President Buhari was keenly following the evolving investigation.
Sokoto government said it is partnering with the Federal Government and the World Bank to develop large scale irrigation scheme in the state.
Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who stated this during a visit by a team from the partner agencies to Sokoto Government House, said the scheme, tagged Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMM), will support and improve agricultural productivity through strengthened institutional arrangement and improved access to irrigation drainage services.
He said the scheme will also complement existing major agricultural initiatives and focuses on improving large-scale public irrigation in Sokoto and some selected states in the North.
“We have so far committed a total of N4.9b for the reclamation of farms in the Kware Irrigation Scheme. Our government will commit about N460m while our partners will provide the rest. The Kware irrigation scheme, which will complement TRIMM, involves construction of 175 irrigation water conveyance canals, 120 units of haudraulic structures, 55 kilometres of feeder roads, five units of primary schools, two primary healthcare centres and two comminuty markets.
“The target is to enhance agricultural growth and production, provide job opportunities, tackle poverty among the populace and also help in developing rice value chain by boosting local rice milling in our state,” Tambuwal revealed.
In his remarks, TRIMM’s Project Coordinator, Engr Peter Manjok said given the global growing competitiveness in irrigated agricultural production, a window of opportunity was opened to help raise income and reduce poverty in the country.
According to him, the scheme, which will run for seven years, will involve the transfer of tertiary irrigation and drainage facilities to registered operators and Water User Association (WUAs) in affected areas.
At least seven persons were killed and an unspecified number of teenage girls abducted in Bam Village, about seven kilometers away from Buratai village, the home town of Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, on Sunday during an attack by the terrorist group, Boko Haram.
A resident of the area who fled to Miringa town for safety, Abubakar Ali, told newsmen on Sunday evening that the insurgents invaded his village about 3:30am and set ablaze the whole village.
He alleged that they killed four persons and later left with some of the yet to be married
teenage girls.
He lamented that the insurgents operated in the village till about 5am and even had the audacity to “separate teenage girls from married women, set ablaze the whole village and left with the choice girls unchallenged.”
He said it was unfortunate that “these hoodlums always attacked our villages unchallenged. I am calling on General Buratai to do something about this for the soldiers seem to be doing little to checkmate them here.
“We have been telling the soldiers that the Boko Haram are in some villages around here but they only go to Mangari a few kilometres away from Buratai and shoot in the air and come back. It seems the soldiers are afraid to confront them.”
President Muhammadu Buhari declared Sunday in Malta that violent extremism and terrorism can only thrive and endure if good people remain idle and complacent.
Buhari, according to a statement signed by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, made the declaration while speaking on behalf of other participating African Heads of State and Government at the closing Executive Session of the 2015 Commonwealth Summit. President Buhari said that he was confident that terrorism will be ultimately defeated with greater international cooperation and collaboration.
“We have had the opportunity to discuss, in a serene atmosphere, wide ranging issues that are of great significance, not only to the members of the Commonwealth, but to the entire global community.
“Of particular note is the Action Statement on Climate Change, which is expected to herald our commitment to saving the planet for present and future generations.
“Of equal significance are our deliberations on Radicalisation and Violent Extremism. We are witnesses to the growing phenomenon of terrorism that is affecting us all, whether big or small.
“The reign of terror will only succeed if peace-loving people choose to remain idle. But I am confident that through our collective efforts, we will defeat this scourge and restore peace,” President Buhari was quoted as saying.
The President also reaffirmed the unwavering commitment of Nigeria and other African member-countries to the promotion and protection of the core values of the Commonwealth.
“I came into power via democratic principles and values espoused by this same body. Nigeria as a country will continue to protect and promote these democratic ideals,” President Buhari assured heads of delegations at the session.
The President thanked the outgoing Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, for his exemplary service to the Commonwealth.
“We in Nigeria will not forget his five memorable visits to our country during his tenure. As this is his last CHOGM in his present capacity, I know I speak for my colleagues from Africa in expressing our immense gratitude and best wishes to him,” President Buhari said.
He also congratulated the Commonwealth’s Secretary-General-elect, Rt. Hon. Patricia Janet Scotland, and assured her of the full support of Nigeria and other African members of the Commonwealth.
