Thursday, 11 June 2015
U-20 Germany defeat Nigeria
Liverpool looking to Sign third player, after completing Danny
Ghana halts Ebola vaccine trial
According to country's Food and Drugs Authority they had begun enlisting volunteers in Hohoe in the Volta region to be injected with drugs produced by Johnson & Johnson and Bavarian Nordic as part of a global Ebola vaccine drive.
Youth leaders threatened to boycott the programme.
“We don't want to be guinea pigs,” one local leader.
Ebola has killed 2347 people in Guinea, 3915 people in Sierra Leone, 4806 people in Liberia and 8 people in Nigeria, since it began more than a year ago but new cases have declined sharply. Ghana has no record case.
Health Ministry spokesman Tony Goodman said “The (health) minister has suspended the trials indefinitely because the people said they don't want it,”.
The worst-hit countries have completed first trials of an experimental vaccine.
On Wednesday, parliament ordered the trials suspended and summoned the health minister to appear next week on the matter, senior parliamentary official Ebenezer Dzietror.
Tuesday, 9 June 2015
Senate, House of Reps elect new leaders — LIVE UPDATES
In the Senate, the major battle for the position of Senate President is between Ahmed lawan (Yobe North) and Bukola Saraki (Kwara Central).
Mr. Lawan is the preferred candidate of his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, while Mr. Saraki has the support of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
In the House of Representatives, it is also a direct battle between Femi Gbajabiamila (Surelere, Lagos) and Yakubu Dogora (Tafawa Balewa/ Bogoro, Bauchi).
Mr. Gbajabiamila has been adopted by the APC as well, while PDP has directed its members to vote Mr. Dogara into office.
The die is cast between the two leading parties.
Our reporters are at the two chambers and will provide live updates of the proceedings there.
Nigeria: Dana Air Boss Proposes Aviation Blueprint for Buhari Administration
Hathiramani who expressed optimism in the new government commended Buhari for his integrity, passion, resilience as well as his determination, which led to his historic victory at the polls.
The Dana boss while proposing an aviation blueprint for the new administration, noted that Buhari's message of change resonates with the vision of Dana Air, and the yearnings of many in the aviation industry, given that Mr. President had promised to appoint technocrats to run the different aspects of the economy, including the aviation sector.
He said the administration will build on positive achievements of successive governments to deliver well-designed aviation network with potential huge benefits for users, as well as for growth and investment in the wider economy.
Hathiramani further emphasised that the government needs to urgently build an aerospace Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) facility to safeguard capital flight pointing out that the absence of a functional MRO facility in Nigeria is depleting the nation's foreign reserve given that airlines periodically take aircraft in their fleet to far flung countries for heavy maintenance.
IGP directs arraignment of suspected cult leaders
Mr. Arase’s directive was disclosed in a statement issued by Emmanuel Ojukwu, the force spokesperson, on Monday in Abuja.
The statement said the suspects had played ignoble roles in acts of terror, vicious inter and intra cult conflicts that led to destruction of lives and property in the state.
It appealed to the public to continue to collaborate with the police in ensuring that crime was reduced to barest minimum.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian ambassador to Spain, Bianca Ojukwu, has donated data capturing machine to the police.
A statement signed by the force spokesperson said Mrs Ojukwu made the donation when she visited Mr. Arase.
The statement said the machine would strengthen the Interpol Wing of the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department in capturing data of Nigerians in Diaspora.
It also said that device would ensure that criminally minded Nigerians that were smearing the country’s image were dealt with in accordance with the law.
You Can’t Return To Govt House, Dickson Tells Sylva
Dickson said the people of the state are now wiser and will not vote for Sylva if he runs for the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
He said both Sylva and the APC do not stand any chance in the governorship election.
Dickson spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, in a statement on Sunday while reacting to reports credited to Sylva to the effect that he (the governor) was governing by fear and intimidation.
He told Sylva to forget re-election because “his era was the darkest days in the history of the state.”
Dickson said the APC leader had been rejected by the people of the state who would not be deceived by his antics anymore.
“Sylva’s remarks epitomized those of a man who has lost focus and not in touch with the realities on the ground. It is heartwarming that he (Sylva) is not accusing me of multiple crimes and criminality, secret killings, cultism, large scale corruption and brigandage, which were the hallmarks of his tenure as governor of Bayelsa State”, Dickson said.
He continued: “Sylva’s era as governor of Bayelsa State were the darkest days in the history of the state. Bayelsans have become wiser and would not be cajoled or hoodwinked by his antics.
“If Sylva is a wise man he would have seen the handwriting on the wall that Bayelsans have since rejected him by voting massively for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in all the recent elections”.
Dickson said the defeat of Sylva in his unit, ward and constituency in the last state Houses of Assembly and National Assembly elections should have taught him the lesson that “he can’t be governor again.”
ANALYSIS: In APC’s history of crises, choosing Senate President, House Speaker seem toughest
APC had a smooth birth when the defunct major political parties, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC and a faction of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, agreed to dissolve and form the new mega opposition party at the time.
However, no sooner had the new party applied for registration from the Independent National electoral Commission, INEC, than it faced its first major battle.
Some politicians had already approached the electoral umpire to register another party, African Peoples Congress, APC, with a view to frustrating the registration of the new mega opposition party.
After winning the acronym war, the new party was now faced with the “crisis” of forming interim executives and some of the defunct parties were insisting on producing some of the “juicy” leadership positions. The party successfully weathered that storm and came out stronger and more united.
However, “crisis” was soon to return when some erstwhile leaders of the legacy parties felt that they were short-changed when the APC eventually decided to hold its first national convention to elect party executives.
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tom Ikimi, who hosted most of the meetings of the merger committee prior to registration, was “schemed” out of becoming the party’s first elected national chairman.
Others such as the current governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El Rufai, who had also signified intention to emerge the national secretary was “zoned” out of the position. The same thing applied to one of the formidable members of the party at the time, Ismail Ahmed, who was equally “zoned” out of consideration.
Yet another crisis that the APC successfully surmounted was the fallout of the defection of five governors from the PDP into its fold in 2013.
The coming of the five governors, though, hugely enhanced the fortunes of the party, also came with its own problems.
The leadership of the party had already adopted a position to the effect that governors belonging to the party, are the leaders of the party in their states. With the coming of Governors Rabiu Kwankwaso and Aliyu Wamakko, two major members of the APC in Kano and Sokoto states, Ibrahim Shekarau and Attahiru Bafarawa, were automatically relegated in the pecking order.
The duo found it difficult to stay with their hitherto “arc enemies” and therefore, unsurprisingly defected to the PDP.
Two other leaders, Tom Ikimi and a former Borno Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, also defected to the PDP.
Indeed, the ruling PDP at the time variously expressed confidence that the APC would not survive the crisis that would follow its primary election to elect the party’s presidential candidate.
The party’s failure to produce a consensus candidate prior to the primary election in Lagos in 2014 meant that Muhammadu Buhari, ATiku Abubakar, Rabiu Kwankwaso and Sam Nda Isaiah would slug it out.
After intense politicking, horse trading and lobbying, Mr. Buhari beat the three other contestants to the ticket and since then, the APC continued to grow from strength to strength.
When the party eventually defeated the PDP and also formed the majority in the two chambers of the national assembly, it became clear that APC would produce the next Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
However, that blessing is turning out to be a “curse” somehow, because the party is now divided and the leadership has basically failed to reign in some of its lawmakers-elect on its decision regarding who should run.
Signs that all was not well first emerged after the leaders of the party including its NEC, and NWC failed to zone the two major assembly offices to any of the six geo political zones.
The leadership also called a “retreat” for all the Senators and Reps elect at Ibeto Hotel Abuja two weeks ago.
Although the retreat succeeded in having some persons who had earlier signified their intention to vie for the two offices to step down, it failed to come out with a single candidate for the office of Senate President and Speaker.
Former Governor of Benue state, George Akume, stepped down for Ahmed Lawan in an alignment that saw him running with the Yobe Senator as his Deputy Senate President.
In the House of Representatives, Tahir Monguno, also stepped down for Femi Gbajabiamila and was equally made a running mate.
However, APC leaders failed to convince Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara to shelve their ambition of running for Senate President and Speaker respectively.
Shortly after the retreat ended, two major camps in both chambers of the national assembly emerged.
The first group called themselves the “Senate Like Minds” and they addressed the press to say they were behind the candidature of Mr. Saraki.
The address, which was read by Dino Melaye, also stated that Mr. Saraki enjoyed the support of 34 out of the 59 APC Senators at the retreat.
Earlier in the day, another group, the Senate Unity Forum, also addressed a press conference and claimed that the forum had 50 Senators supporting the candidature of Senator Lawan.
In a nutshell, the retreat left the APC more polarized along the two major camps.
Findings by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that a national leader of the APC and former governor of Lagos state, Bola Tinubu, was promoting Mr. Lawan’s candidature.
Facing rebellion, leaders of the APC again called for a “meeting” of all Senators and members-elect first on Thursday, before shifting it to Saturday.
However, upon arrival, members of the House of Reps were informed that the meeting was called to conduct a mock election to elect the party’s candidate to run for Speaker of the House.
Members loyal to Mr. Dogara promptly rejected the decision saying they were not informed about the mock elections. They therefore, staged a walk out.
As for the Senate, the various groups in the Senate had met earlier and were informed that unlike what transpired during the mock election to elect a candidate for Speaker, which was open/ secret balloting; election for a candidate for Senate president would be done via the open ballot.
Sensing foul play, Senators loyal to Bukola Saraki decided to also stay away.
The APC eventually conducted the mock election using the open/secret ballot and Messrs. Lawan and Akume were “elected” for Senate President and Deputy respectively.
However, Mr. Saraki had insisted that irrespective of what happened on Saturday, he would still run for election as Senate President on Tuesday.
Opposition holds the ace
It is clear that with the position taken by the APC, the opposition Senators made up mainly of the PDP and other smaller parties, holds the ace as to who emerges as president of the Senate.
While Mr. Lawan may have gained the support of his APC colleagues, Mr. Saraki appears to have the upper hand within the opposition ranks.
Investigations by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that PDP Senators are likely to give the former Kwara governor their block votes.
Tuesday morning, the PDP announced it was adopting Mr. Saraki, the biggest boost for the camp.
One of the Senators in the PDP informed us in confidence that although the party leadership has tried to “guide” them on who to vote for at a retreat in Portharcourt, Rivers state last week, he said, they have already decided where to go.
“Our votes are for Saraki, not just because we consider him a better candidate, but because we are sure that all that is due to us as opposition in terms of committee appointment and welfare will surely come to us, so it is a win-win situation for us all,” he said.
Another Senator also said they decided to pitch their tent with Mr. Saraki to spite Mr. Tinubu.
Out of the 59 APC Senators, 35 attended Saturday’s election. So it is safe to assume that the 24 Senators who stayed away belong to Mr. Saraki. Presently, the PDP has 49 Senators and if they follow their party’s advice and vote for the former governor of Kwara state in block, he would be elected as the president of the 8th Senate.
Breaking News: NNPC Pipeline Explodes as Vandals Strike Again
Confirming the incident, the South-west Zonal Spokesperson for the
National Emegerncy Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, said
emergency workers are still trying to cut a path to the scene of the
vandalism to put out the fire.
He said, "Vandals struck again on the NNPC pipeline at Ije Ododo line around 11:15 p.m yesterday.
"As at now, NNPC has shut down flows and locked the supply valves to stop further supply to feeding the fire.
"Action will commence to put out the fire this morning after securing
access to the difficult terrain that has proven extremely difficult due
to swampy nature of the area.
"Ije Ododo line is directly from Atlas Cove which supplies products to
Moshinmi who further distributes to other part of South West zone.
"Ije Ododo and Arepo have been very volatile and extremely dangerous due to activities of the vandals in recent times."
Breaking News :APC Shuts N'Assembly in Desperation to Stop Saraki, Dogara
As early as 6am, the road leading to the National Assembly had been cordoned off while policemen and soldiers had been been deployed to stop human and vehicular movement into the premises.
The decision to shut the National Assembly was the fallout of the adoption of Saraki and Dogara by Peoples Democratic Party senators-elect as candidates for Senate president and speakership of the House last night.
While the National Assembly is shut, President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of APC have scheduled a meeting with APC lawmakers at the International Conference Centre (ICC) this morning.
The meeting is meant to compel Saraki or Dogara to step down for the party's candidates. There are fears that the inauguration of the 8th National Assembly may not hold today if the party fails to have its way.
Spurs may force Liverpool to pay a few extra quid for Ings
Campaigners to fight Mayor's funding guarantee for Garden Bridge
The agreement was been made to allay concerns raised by Lambeth and Westminster Councils, who both made a guarantee of maintenance costs a condition of their planning permissions granted late last year.
But Michael Ball, director of Westminster Community Development Group, which is opposing the project, said: ‘It would be illogical and unreasonable for Boris to underwrite it (the Garden Bridge), since the news that the public purse is going to pick up the tab will deter any further private donations – which would in turn undermine Boris’ very reason for supporting the bridge with public funding in the first place.
‘Boris has talked of providing a guarantee, but this means nothing until he provides the detail of how public funding would be triggered.’
He said the trust was now taking legal advice on launching a new legal challenge to the scheme based on Johnson’s decision to underwrite the project.
The decision to drop a proposed judicial review of the decision to grant planning permission for the bridge, and Lambeth’s agreement to pay is costs, means that WCDG would have a ‘healthy fighting fund to launch that fresh legal challenge against it if necessary’, he said.
Yet supporters of the controversial scheme claim the Mayor’s guarantee is little more than a bureaucratic box-ticking exercise. The direction signed by Johnson to approve the underwriting of the project reads: ‘Given the trust’s projected annual revenue surplus, it is the clear expectation that the guarantees…will not need to be called upon.’
A spokesperson for Johnson told AJ: ‘The reason for a having a guarantee from the GLA is to meet a planning requirement imposed by Westminster City Council. The mayor has made it clear that public money will not be used to cover maintenance costs of the bridge.’
A statement from the Garden Bridge Trust, which is behind the scheme, said: ‘The trust has worked to reduce the costs for the maintenance and operations of the bridge and to develop a robust business plan, which will deliver the funds required using a mix of income generating techniques.’
It said that the trust has already raised £67million in funding from the private sector, charitable trusts and individuals in the past 18 months.
The latest news comes just days after the London Assembly called on the Mayor to withdraw public funding for the proposed Garden Bridge and launch a full inquiry into how it was procured (see AJ 03.06.15).
Monday, 8 June 2015
Alliance Francaise Ibadan
Alliance Francaise Ibadan announces to the public, the commencement of a new session of French morning classes for adults starting on 8th of June 2015.
For more info call : 07032043178 or 08036525324
For more info call : 07032043178 or 08036525324
Photo: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and his wife Dolapo, Lagos Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and wife and Pastor E.A Adeboye
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and his wife Dolapo joined Lagos Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and wife, the General Overseer of RCCG Pastor E.A Adeboye and his wife to worship at the 7th Edition of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Apapa Family, Excel Programme held at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) today June 7th.
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