World News Delight

Shiites members during a protest in Abuja on October 30, 2018. The police say they have arrested 400 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) popularly known as Shiites, over the violent protest that rocked Abuja on Tuesday. Members of the group had taken to some parts of the nation’s capital in protest against the continued detention of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky. The demonstration eventually resulted in a clash between the group and security operatives, leading to their arrest by personnel of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command of the Nigeria Police Force. FCT Commissioner of Police, Mr Bala Ciroma, confirmed the arrest while addressing a news conference at the Command Headquarters in Abuja. Ciroma explained that some members of the group were arrested for being in possession of about 31 bottles of petrol bomb made out of improvised explosive devices and other dangerous weapons. He revealed that the protesters burnt a police rapid response sq...

Senator Ademola Adeleke The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) governorship candidate for the Osun Election, Ademola Adeleke, has been arraigned at the Federal High Court in Abuja. Mr Adeleke was arraigned by the police on a four-count charge of alleged examination malpractice alongside four others. He and the other four pleaded not guilty to the charges. The defendants are the principal of Ojo-Aro community grammar school Osun state, Aregbesola Muftau; the registrar of the school, Gbadamosi Ojo, a teacher in the school, Dare Olutope, and the senator’s cousin, Sikiru Adeleke. The prosecution accused three of the defendants of fraudulently registering Senator Adeleke and his cousin, as students of Ojo-aro community grammar school,  in Osun State, for the National Examination Council’s June/July 2017 Senior School Certificate Examination in February 2017. Three of the defendants, including Senator Adeleke, were thereafter granted bail, having filed their separate b...

Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Governor Abdul’Aziz Yari (Zamfara State), addressing a press conference in Abuja on June 28, 2018. The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has agreed to pay the sum of N22, 500 as new minimum wage for workers, as against the existing N18,000. Chairman of the Forum and Zamfara State Governor, Abdul’Aziz Yari, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja. He explained that the decision followed an emergency meeting of the governors where they deliberated on the new minimum wage after a briefing from the forum’s representatives at the Tripartite Committee. The governor noted that the welfare of the people was the ultimate concern for the forum, lamenting the deteriorating economic situation experienced by the vulnerable segment of the populace. Before agreeing to a figure, he explained that the governors considered the stride of development in their states, particularly in health, education and infrastructure. Governor Yar...

The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr. Chris Ngige, says the Federal Government has rejected the N22,500 minimum wage proposal by the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF). Ngige stated this on Wednesday during a phone interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily. “The governors have not even done enough. I told them that this N22,500 is even rejected by the Federal Government,” he said. Ngige’s comments come 24 hours after NGF unanimously agreed to pay Nigerian workers N22,500 as the new minimum wage as against the current N18,000. Chairman of the Forum and Zamfara State Governor, Abdul’Aziz Yari, said that the decision of the governors was based on the current realities on the ground. But Ngige criticised the governors for the figure saying N22,500 is even below the N24, 000 agreement by the Federal Government. He, however, said that all parties on the ground would resume back on negotiations to see that the welfare of the workers is met. Ngige added, “The nat...

President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Jair Bolsonaro on his emergence as Brazil’s new President. The President also felicitated with the people of Brazil for successfully going through the two rounds of the election and making their choice, thereby enhancing the democratic credentials of their country. According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Nigeria shares historical and cultural ties with Brazil. President Buhari said his administration looks forward to deepening such relations as well as expanding current political, trade and military ties with the South American powerhouse. As Bolsonaro prepares to be sworn into office in January 2019, the Nigerian leader wished him a successful tenure in confronting his country’s current socio-economic challenges.

File photo A Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed December 4, 2018 to hear the suit filed by MTN Nigeria Communications limited to challenge the $8.1 billion being demanded from it by the Central Bank of Nigeria over alleged forex remittances infractions. At the hearing on Tuesday, MTN was represented by Wole Olanipekun (SAN), who led 14 other lawyers. On the CBN legal team were Mrs Seyi Sowemimo (SAN) and Ademola Akerele (SAN). The Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), who was joined as the 2nd defendant in the suit was however, absent and was not represented in court. While adjourning the suit till December 4, 2018, for the hearing of all pending applications, the presiding judge, Justice Saliu Saidu, directed that hearing notice should be served on the Attorney General of the Federation. In the suit, the telecommunications giant urged the court to declare that “the 1st defendant’s decision in its letter of August 28, 2018, addressed to the pl...

The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, his counterparts in Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson; Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel and Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, on Tuesday met with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja. Although the governors did not give details of what they discussed with the president, Seriake Dickson who spoke to journalists noted that they discussed issues of interest to their respective states and the country at large. He described the meeting as robust, adding that the president promised to “look into the issues”. He, however, did not state what the issues are.

NLC Protest The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has given the Federal Government up to November 6, 2018, to meet their demands for workers’ pay raise or face an indefinite strike by the workers. The leaders of the labour unions who are leading protest marches in different parts of the country insisted that the government must approve the 30,000 naira minimum wage and nothing less. In Lagos, the protest caused a gridlock stretching from the Ojuelegba axis of Ikorodu road to Freedom Park in Ojota, Lagos state causing motorists to move slowly behind them. In Imo State, the workers trooped out to sensitize the public on their demand for 30,000 naira minimum wage. Also in Taraba, the Labour Union staged a sensitisation rally calling on the Federal Government to meet its demand of 30,000 minimum wage or face an indefinite strike action. The workers said the sensitisation became necessary as the labour union has remained calm and adopted dialogue with the government si...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is seeking the final forfeiture of the sums of 8.4 million dollars and 9.2 billion  naira  linked to Patience Jonathan, the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan. In an application filed before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, the EFCC through its counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, asked the court to grant its prayers for the final forfeiture of the funds. Justice Olatoregun had, on April 19, 2018, made an order of interim forfeiture of the monies, following an ex-parte application filed by the anti-graft agency against Mrs Jonathan and six other respondents. But the counsel to Mrs Jonathan, Ifedayo Adedipe, told the court that the EFCC had not shown any reason to warrant the final forfeiture of the money, and asked the court to refuse the application. The counsel to the other defendants also argued that the EFCC’s application was an abuse of court process and...

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday met with aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Addressing the party members under the auspices of APC Aspirants Forum, the President pleaded with the aggrieved members to remain resolute and loyal to the party. He also promised the aggrieved members that the party leadership would do the needful to ensure that their stolen mandates were returned. An APC chieftain, Ahmed Wadada, briefed State House correspondents on behalf of the group after the meeting held behind closed doors. He said the members have pledged to support and work sincerely with the party.

Garba Shehu                                               Muhammadu Buhari                                      Kola Ologbondiyan The controversy trailing President Muhammadu Buhari’s West African School Certificate (WASC) has taken a new dimension with a fresh war of words between the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, issued a statement on Monday in which he accused the opposition party of sowing division among the people. He described the suit challenging the President’s certificate as a waste of time, stressing that there were records of higher qualifications obtained by hard work and truly merited by Mr President. “This certificate story is an old one,” Shehu sai...

President Muhammadu Buhari President Muhammadu Buhari has criticised the previous governments for their perceived failure in infrastructure development from 1999-2014. The President said that with the huge resources at the nation’s disposal at that time, “Infrastructure went to a rot completely within the same period”. President Buhari stated this on Monday when he received the outgoing British High Commissioner to Nigeria, His Excellency, Paul Arkwright, in a farewell audience at the State House, Abuja. “Our focus now is on infrastructure; roads, rail, power, and others. “How I wish we had fixed all those when we had money. What we earned between 1999 and 2014 is on record, but nothing was done to infrastructure. “Now, we are doing a lot more, with a lot fewer resources. And we shall continue to do our best”, he said. The President commended the outgoing High Commissioner for his warm and pleasant disposition, which has seen him traversing almost the entire ...

President Muhammadu Buhari with the Special Representative of UN SEC-GEN on West Africa and the Sahel, Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambers, and President of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Brou, at the State House in Abuja on October 29, 2018. President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government is making its best effort to deliver on its promises to Nigerians, with the resources at its disposal. According to him, even the opposition has not been able to fault their campaign objectives of securing the country, reviving the economy, and fighting corruption, on which the 2015 elections were run. “The opposition has not succeeded in faulting us. We are doing our best with the resources available to us,” the President was quoted as saying in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina. President Buhari made the remarks while receiving members of the Joint United Nations, African Union and ECOWAS Good...

The presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Obiageli ‘Oby’ Ezekwesili, says there is no difference between President Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar. While delivering a speech on Monday titled, ‘ To those who say we cannot win: Unveiling the Oby Ezekwesili Roadmap to 2019 ‘, in Lagos, she described both men as ‘Siamese twins’. According to her, she decided to run for president in order to permanently terminate the cycle of bad leadership in Nigeria. She said President Buhari who is the flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku who is running on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have similar traits and don’t necessarily have anything new to offer Nigerians. “For those of you considering the PDP as an alternative, I really want to ask you, what is the thing that you see about them that is any different from the APC? “These people are the same. They are the Siamese twins of failure. “Fellow Niger...