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The Speaker of the House of Representatives,  Yakubu Dogara, has said that Nigeria’s political parties, including the ruling APC, the main opposition PDP and others are weak, unstable, lacking functional party apparatus, and also suffering from low organizational capacity and internal democracy. He said political parties that refused to embrace reforms to institute internal democracy risk extinction. Dogara stated this while delivering a keynote address at a retreat on: ‘Dynamics of Managing Political Parties’ organised by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Abuja yesterday.

The question on the lips of the people is: ‘Who were the Federal Special Anti-robbery Squad (FSARS) operatives that raided some parts of Ilupeju, Lagos, on January 24? A widower, Mr Musendiku Adeyanju whose wife Asiata slumped to death after learning of her son Muiz’s arrest by the operatives, is asking the police to fish them out. The operatives said to be from Ipakodo Division in Ikorodu arrested Muiz while he was trying to put on the generator in front of their 9, Ajenifuja Street, Ilupeju, Lagos home.

A 25-year-old commercial bus driver, John Okoye, who allegedly drove  recklessly, causing his conductor to fall off the vehicle and die, was on Monday brought before an Ojo Magistrates’ Court in Lagos. Okoye, who resides at Adensin Street,  Igando, a Lagos suburb, is facing a charge of manslaughter. The Police Prosecutor, Insp. Uche Simeon, told the court that the accused committed the offence on April 14, 2017, at 8.00p.m., along Iyana-Iba/Igando Road, Ojo Lagos.

Information and Culture Minister Alhaji Lai Mohammed spoke with reporters in Lagos on the achievements and constraints of the Buhari administration in the last two and half years and its priorities as it enters the last lap of its first tenure. Has your party fulfilled its electoral promises to the people? We were very categorical that we were going to address three areas of governance: we are going to fight corruption, we are going to fight insecurity and we are going to revamp the economy. I can say with all sense of modesty that we can beat our chest that we have delivered in all those areas. On the economy, a former CBN Deputy Governor, Prof. Moghalu, disagreed with your government’s claim that we have exited recession…

Two brothers, Sunday Ikuedowo, 35, and Olumide Ikuedowo, 25, were on Friday arraigned in an Okitipupa Magistrates’ Court in Ondo State for allegedly stealing Christmas chickens valued at N25,000. The first defendant, a barber, and the second, a bricklayer, all of no fixed address, were arraigned on a three-count charge of conspiracy, felony and stealing. The prosecutor, Sgt. Ayodeji Omoyeigha, told the court that the defendants on Dec. 23, 2017 at about 4.00 a.m. at No. 21, Lareda St., Okitipupa, conspired to commit felony and stealing.

The Federal Government has replied to a letter by former President, Olusegun Obasanjo’s criticising th e administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, gave the response in a seven-page statement released on Wednesday. The former President had in a statement asked President Buhari not to seek for a second term in office. READ FULL STATEMENT: We have read the press statement by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the State of the Nation. For the record, Chief Obasanjo is a patriot, and he has proven this time and time again. We appreciate what he said concerning the Administration’s performance in two out of the three key issues that formed the plank of its campaign: Fighting corruption and tackling insurgency.

A woman has reportedly died of shock after her son’s arrest by some Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad ( FSARS ) operatives. Mrs Asiata Adeyanju, 42, slumped and died close to her 9, Ajenifuja Street, Ilupeju, Lagos home on Wednesday night. She was said to be hypertensive. The Nation gathered that the FSARS operatives from Ipakodo Division in Ikorodu, who have been allegedly picking people up in the area in the last two weeks, arrested Muiz, the deceased’s 17-year-old son, when he  was about switching on the generator in front of their home.

The Lagos State Government on Friday confirmed the death of Mr Deji Tinubu, the Special Adviser on Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives to Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode. The government, in a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan, expressed shock and disbelief’ over the sudden death of Tinubu. According to Bamigbetan, Tinubu, a soccer fan, slumped while playing five aside match with fellow participants at the ongoing retreat of members of the State Executive Council and permanent secretaries in Epe.

A teenage boy has killed two classmates and wounded at least 12 people after opening fire with a handgun at a Kentucky high school. The unnamed 15-year-old, who has been arrested, is alleged to have carried out the attack at Marshall County High School in Benton, western Kentucky. The two students who died were also 15, according to Kentucky governor Matt Bevin.  One of the victims died at the scene and the other after being taken to a hospital.

Governor Abiola Ajimobi, through his counsel, Yusuf Ali, has filed a suit asking the Court of Appeal to set aside the ruling and judgement of Justice Olajumoke Aiki delivered on 19th January, 2018, which declared the review of the 1957 Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration as unconstitutional, illegal, null, void and of no effect. In the suit number, M/317/2017 with High Chief Rashidi Ladoja and Honourable Justice Akintunde Boade (Rtd) as first and second respondents respectively, Ajimobi, the appellant, further asked for an order dismissing the case presented by Ladoja in its entirety. The appeal was premised on 11 grounds stating that Justice Aiki erred in law and misconstrued facts and the provisions of Section 25 of the Oyo Chiefs Law in arriving at her judgement.

 A 42-year-old man, Bahago Linus, on Tuesday begged an Upper Area Court in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, to dissolve his 13-year-old marriage to his wife, Aisha, for alleged irresponsible behaviour, a threat to life and violence. Linus also told the court that Aisha had failed in her duty as a wife, adding that her attitude had “killed the love he had for her and can never love her again.” He informed the court that he had been living with Aisha for over 13 years and that the union was blessed with four children.

A gay couple is taking legal action after only one of their twin sons was recognised as a United States citizen. The family is suing the US State Department after 16-month-old Ethan Dvash-Banks, whose biological father is Israeli citizen Elad Dvash-Banks, was refused the same rights as his brother Aiden, whose biological father is Andrew Dvash-Banks - an American citizen. Andrew and Elad, who met while Andrew studied in Israel, are both listed on the birth certificates of the children, who were born in Canada via a surrogate using donor eggs and sperm from each father.

She is known for her risque looks. But even Kim Kardashian may have revealed a little too much on set of her latest photoshoot. The 37-year-old reality star flaunted her curvaceous figure in a completely see-through white dress for the pictorial on the beach in Malibu on Monday. Kim could be seen in almost all her glory as she rocked the off-the-shoulder mini dress and posed in front of the ocean.  No doubt she felt chilly in the ocean breeze as she covered herself in a white robe in between posing for snaps.

The wife of one of the known Ghanaian pastors in has accidentally leaked her own sex video. According to report, the Ghanaian pastor’s wife mistakenly shared the video into a Whatsapp Group where she is a member. So many people were surprised and confused as to who she was sending the video to. It could be to her pastor husband.

The federal, states and local governments have shared N655.177 billion, being revenue generated in December 2017 and shared in January 2018. The breakdown showed the total amount shared include N540.446 billion gross statutory revenue received for the month, which is lower than the N549.533 billion shared in the previous month by N9.089 billion. Another sum of N83.963 billion was received from Valued Added Tax (VAT) as against the N80.426 billion distributed in the preceding month, resulting in N3.537 billion. “The distributable statutory revenue for the month is N423.961 billion. The total revenue distributable for the current month (including VAT) is N558.082 billion”, minister of finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun said while reading out the communiqué of the January meeting to journalists in Abuja.

She turned heads after heading to the National Television Awards on Tuesday on the tube. And Montana Brown was seen being carried to an awaiting taxi by a mystery man, while her worse-for-wear Love Island co-star Olivia Attwood flashed her underwear as they exited the event at London's O2 Arena. Montana, 21, who was clad in a gorgeous sparkling white gown, was provided extra assistance in getting home, while Olivia's flowing number flashed too much as it got caught in the wind.

The Police in Katsina have commenced investigation into the death of a housewife, Hadiza Salisu Dan Kasuwa, allegedly caused by her husband’s brothers. The suspects, Shafiu Ibrahim and Fahad, were alleged to have used sticks to beat up the woman causing serious injuries and loss of blood that caused her death on Sunday in Danja LGA of the state. Speaking on the matter, the spokesman of Katsina police command, DSP Gambo Isa, said the husband’s brothers alleged that the woman had severally abused their mother (her mother in law) following a misunderstanding between them.

Presidential election is to come last in the sequence of general elections in the country according to an amendment to the Electoral Act by the House of Representatives. National Assembly elections would now come first in the sequence, to be followed by governorship and state assembly elections. These are contained in several amendments done to the Electoral Act, 2010 by the House yesterday. Based on the current provisions, Presidential and National Assembly elections are held first on the same day, while those of governors and members of the state houses of assembly were held later also on the same day.

Simon Shelton Barnes, from Ampthill in Bedfordshire, had trained as a ballet dancer and choreographer before taking on the role from 1998 to 2001 as the purple character who carried a 'magic bag' in the children's show. After the father-of-three's death, his make-up artist daughter Lydia Barnes wrote: 'I love you so much dad. Always have, always will. The most beautiful man in the world. Forever in my heart.' Mr Barnes was found last Wednesday at 7.30am having died of hypothermia after collapsing on the streets of Liverpool in the Mann Island area of the city.

From right: Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari; Chairman Media Trust Ltd, Kabiru Yusuf; Mr. Wale Edu, who represented Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Nollywood Actress, Kate Henshaw and other dignitaries at 2018 Daily Trust Dialogue in Abuja yesterday Big political actors on the Nigerian political landscape offered contrasting visions yesterday of the challenges facing this country in the run up to the 2019 general elections, which has begun in earnest with the Independent National Electoral Commission’s [INEC] recent release of the time table for party primaries. Former Jigawa State governor Alhaji Sule Lamido charged at the ruling All Progressives Congress [APC] and said nearly three years after it took over power at the federal level, it was still behaving like an opposition party by blaming others for its incompetence. Secretary to the Government of the Federation [SGF] Mr. Boss Mustapha, who represented President M...

At last,   the Kaduna state chapter of Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) has called off the indefinite strike action it embarked upon on January 8, 2018 over the sack of about 22,000 teachers by the state government. Teachers in the state had embarked on the strike action to express their grievances over the sack of 21,780 teachers who were said to have failed a primary four exam conducted to test their competency by the state government.

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the Democratic People’s Congress (DPC) has called for the immediate amendment of the 1999 Constitution to provide a term limit for National Assembly members. The National Chairman of DPC, Rev. Olusegun Peters, who said this yesterday in Abuja, added that the term limit would enhance lawmaking and diligence in the discharge of lawmaking for national interest.

President Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja on Thursday, vowed that his administration would not condone any action capable of undermining the conduct of the 2019 general elections. The president also assured that he would not support any individual or group seeking to undermine Nigerians' confidence in the ability of the nation's political institutions to conduct peaceful and successful polls. Speaking as Special Guest of Honour at the 15th Daily Trust Dialogue, with the theme "Nigeria and the Challenges of 2019", Buhari, called on politicians and political parties to pledge their commitment to a peaceful democratic process.

Body of a lawmaker representing Takum I in the Taraba State House of Assembly, Hon. Hosea Ibi, has been discovered in a bush at Kwari village on the borders of Benue State. Ibi was abducted on December 30, 2017 by some gunmen in Takum Local Government Area. He was kidnapped about 9:30p.m. from his mother’s compound at Korota II in Takum and taken to unknown destination where was held hostage. A member of the state Assembly close to the deceased told our correspondent that relations and friends of the lawmaker had been negotiating with the kidnappers with the view to securing his release.

An Osogbo Chief Magistrate Court, on Monday, sentenced a 28-year-old security guard, identified as Emmanuel Ajayi to six months of imprisonment for stealing alcoholic drinks worth N3,800. The presiding Chief Magistrate, Mrs Mariam Olaoyede handed down the sentence on the convict, having pleaded guilty to a 2-count charge of burglary and theft. However, Olaoyede gave the convict an option of fine of N10,000 in lieu of the six months imprisonment.

Timi Frank, deputy national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says the seven governors nudging President Muhammadu Buhari to seek re-election “are selfish”. Nasir el-Rufai, Kaduna governor, speaking on behalf of his colleagues on Friday said they want Buhari to keep running the country “in the right direction”. Reacting, Frank said the governors could have paid a condolence visit to Samuel Ortom, their Benue counterpart, over the killings in his state.

Babatunde Fashola- SAN, Minister of Power, Works and Housing Nigeria has been ranked as the second worst nation in power supply as power drops to 3,851 megawatts, MW. The Spectator Index of the world’s worst electricity supply in 2017. This was stated in a report released by @spectatorindex twitter handle, yesterday. Of the 137 countries examined in the report, Yemen ranked as worst electricity supply nations in 2017, followed by Nigeria, Haiti, Lebanon, and Malawi. Ethiopia occupied the 37 position, while South Africa and Algeria occupied the 41, 45 positions respectively. Meanwhile, the Advisory Power Team report showed that the national grid capacity stood at 4, 000 Megawatts, MW. 

The Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, has said that Nigerians are inadvertently pushing the nation towards another civil war through hate speeches, wickedness and massive killings going on in the country. The governor said the nation was lucky to come out of the first civil war but stressed that Nigeria might not be lucky if  it was plunged into another round of civil war now. According to a statement in Osogbo by the governor’s media aide, Mr. Sola Fasure, Aregbesola said this at the 2018 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration on Monday. Making an allusion to the widespread killings by the Fulani herdsmen, the governor sued for caution, saying it had become imperative for every Nigerian to work assiduously for the peace of the nation by avoiding anything that could lead to war.

Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, says if the All Progressives Congress (APC) loses the 2019 elections, it will “go home and rest”. Speaking during a reception organised for him as grand patron of Ikwerre Youth Movement (IYM) in Rivers state, Amaechi said the general election will be the party’s last battle. He said President Muhammadu Buhari will ensure that the elections will be free and fair. Amaechi, who is an ex-governor of the state, said there would no imposition of candidates by the APC during its primaries.

Dele Momodu, publisher of Ovation Magazine, says President Muhammadu Buhari will be too “tired” to run a “complex” nation like Nigeria at the age of 76. He said Buhari should not seek re-election in 2019 because “Nigeria needs a man with full stamina”.  According to Momodu, Nigeria’s president must not be above 65 years old and since Buhari is much older than that, he should step aside in 2019. “I have no doubt in my mind that even if he does not want to run, some people are going to push him to run because their lives depend on it. If he goes, they are gone. But unfortunately, I don’t know what he is enjoying in power again; God has done everything for him.

Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, an NGO, has decried the payment of N40 million each, to former presidents and heads of state. Gowon, OBJ, Shagari, IBB, Shonekan, Abdulsalami, Jonathan and Buhari.  MURIC made its position known in a statement issued by its Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, in Ibadan, yesterday. The group described the decision as anti-people and capitalist-driven, lamenting that the Nigerian system made the “rich richer and the poor poorer.” The statement said: “How decent are we as a people if thousands of retirees are denied their benefits for years, but we proudly present huge amounts of money to former presidents and ex-heads of state? “Where is our humanity if a whopping N40 million is paid to an ex-president, who arrogated all the honey and milk in the land to himself while in office and we still pay a paltry N18,000 as minimum wage to workers who grease the machines of our economy?”

A 45-year-old carpenter, John Ulaha has reportedly impregnated his mother-in-law. Ulaha, a native of Awe Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, is currently living in regrets following his shameful act, NewsBroadcastNG reports. It was gathered that his wife, Victoria, blessed with a daughter, lived in Lafia where she manages a provision store while her husband runs a carpentry workshop. But by way of augmenting their incomes, they are heavily involved in farming activities in Awe, where they hire labourers to work on their farms. However, things fell apart after the implementation of the anti-grazing law in Benue State pushed over 85% of Fulani herdsmen from Benue to settle in Awe, as they started destroying, at an alarming rate, farmlands belonging to others. This situation made Victoria invite her mother who is a widow to come over and help her husband harvest their farm produce of yam and guinea corn since she was very busy with her shop business in Lafia. In the course of tim...

Today is the Installation of the National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams as the 15th Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland at Durba Stadium in Oyo state by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi.

The US ambassador to Panama has resigned, saying that he no longer felt able to serve President Donald Trump. John Feeley, 56, a career diplomat and former Marine Corps helicopter pilot, announced his resignation in a letter to the state department. "As a junior foreign service officer, I signed an oath to serve faithfully the president and his administration in an apolitical fashion, even when I might not agree with certain policies," he wrote, in a letter obtained by Reuters.

Fourteen Nigerians have already been moved to a jail in Medina apparently in preparation for the hangman’s noose.   That has sent shivers down their spines forcing them to dispatch a Save-Our-Souls message to President Muhammadu Buhari to do all within his powers to save them from being slaughtered like cows. State execution They were 15 in number but one of them was executed last year as a common criminal.  The manner, in which Yusuf Yakubu Ajiboye from Kwara State was arrested, hurriedly tried and subsequently killed, made them to entertain fear for their lives and came to the conclusion that the long knife was indeed awaiting them.

A 40-year-old man, Sale Mamman, electrocuted, while cutting firewood from a fallen tree branch on an electric high tension wire. The Spokesman of the Jigawa Police Command, SP Abdu Jinjiri,told NAN that Mamman, is a resident of Duhuwa village in Kiyawa local government area. “On Friday at about 11 a.m., we received a report by the police in Shuwarin outpost that one, Sale Mamman, aged 40 of Duhuwa village in Kiyawa LGA was electrocuted while trying to cut a tree branch which fell on an electric high tension wire.

There was a scuffle at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos when security agencies attached to the airport impounded 17 pieces of checked in luggage belonging to popular hip-hop artist, David Adeleke popularly known as Davido. This followed the alleged unruly behaviour of one of his aides who arrived with him from a trip to Dubai aboard Emirates Airlines on Thursday evening. It was learnt that trouble started when Checkport staff at the baggage reclaim area attempted to check the tags on the check-in luggage of Davido to confirm if it corresponded with the reclaimed luggage.

Archive photo Africans have reacted angrily after US President Donald Trump reportedly referred to their nations as “shithole countries”, with many accusing the US president of racism and ignorance. The 55-nation African Union condemned the remarks on Friday, while a statement from ambassadors of all countries from the continent at the United Nations demanded a retraction and apology. The African Group of UN ambassadors said it was “extremely appalled at, and strongly condemns the outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks by the president of the United States of America as widely reported by the media”. Ambassadors unanimously agreed the resolution after an emergency session to weigh Trump’s remarks. The comment was “clearly” racist, said Ebba Kalondo, spokeswoman for AU chief Moussa Faki. “This is even more hurtful given the historical reality of just how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, and also terribly surprising as the United States remains a massively pos...

Walmart announced Thursday it will raise the minimum wage for more than a million US workers to $11 an hour and pay bonuses, crediting the US tax reform approved in December for making the changes possible. The wage increase starting in February elevates base starting pay from the current $9 an hour, and Walmart also said it would pay employees a one-time bonus of up to $1,000, expand parental and maternity leave programs and provide financial assistance to employees adopting children. “We are early in the stages of assessing the opportunities tax reform creates for us to invest in our customers and associates and to further strengthen our business, all of which should benefit our shareholders,” Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon said.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s former Campaign Coordinator for Lagos State, Abiodun Faleke, has advised the All Progressives Congress leadership to ignore the pledge by the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, that he will deliver the state for the party in the 2019 presidential election. Bello had during his recent visit to the Presidential Villa, assured the party’s leadership that he would ensure that Kogi delivers more votes for the President in 2019 than Katsina, his home state. But Faleke, who was the deputy governorship candidate of the APC in Kogi State during the 2015 election, alleged that Bello had no such capacity because of his poor record of performance in the state.

Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, 92, a chip from the old block, served as President Shehu Shagari’s Liaison Officer to the National Assembly. In this interview, he reviews the state of the nation and critically dissects the arguments for restructuring. He submits that insinuations of northern objection to restructuring are unfounded upon the claim that the blueprint for the process has itself been etched on imaginations that have not been properly articulated. Yakasai also pooh-poohs moves to delineate the Middle Belt from the North saying that the concept of a Middle North toeing a separate political path as unrealistic. Yakasai who supported President Goodluck Jonathan against Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 presidential election concludes by saying that his warnings that Buhari lacked five critical elements of leadership have crystallised for all to see. Excerpt: What is your evaluation of Nigeria in the past 12 months? By and large, I will say things were as they were before, except that a...

Teachers in public primary schools in Kaduna State on Monday shunned classrooms following the directives of the Nigeria Union of Teachers that they should embark on an indefinite strike. The order to embark on strike was to force the el-Rufai’s administration to reverse the sacking of over 20,000 teachers the government claimed had failed its competency test conducted early in June 2017. The strike earlier scheduled for November 23, 2017, was shelved by the teachers union to allow the government to review the cases of the affected teachers, especially that the union had dragged the state before the Kaduna Division of the National Industrial Court.

Two brothers have been arrested for the alleged murder of their 67-year-old grandmother in the Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State. The brothers were alleged to have killed the 67-year-old woman, one Grace Ovbiebo, for money ritual in connivance with two other relatives. The incident was said to have occurred on Asowota Street, Ohovbe quarters, in Benin, the state capital.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has said President Muhammadu Buhari is desirous to give Nigerian workers an enhanced pay package this year. He said the thinking of the Federal Government was to approve a minimum wage that would be acceptable to all stakeholders. Ngige stated this in a chat with journalists at Ifitedunu, Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State on Sunday.

The wife of the President, Mrs. Ai-sha Buhari, has thanked Nigerians for the prayers offered for her ailing son, Yusuf. Yusuf was involved in bike accident on December 26, last year around Gwarimpa, Abuja. He sustained a head injury and broken limb. According to a message posted on her Instagram page, @aishambuhari, Mrs Buhari thanked all Nigerians for their prayers and also the medical team whom she said ensured that Yusuf remained stable while receiving treatment. Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole, she noted, headed the medical team attending to her son.

A technician, Ozoemena Osigwe, has allegedly stabbed an unemployed man on the buttocks for refusing to buy him a bottle of beer. He was, yesterday, arraigned before an Igbosere Magistrate’s Court, Lagos. Osigwe, 37, who resides at Marwa Ghetto, is facing a count charge of unlawful assault and occasioning harm. The prosecutor, Inspector Ingobo Emby, told the court that the complainant, Samuel Emmanuel, was drinking at a bar when Osigwe approached and taunted him that he was drunk.

A young engineer was kidnapped and made to marry at gunpoint are being investigated by police in one of India’s poorest states, which has a history of forced marriage of men. Video footage apparently showing Vinod Kumar being forced to go through with a wedding by his bride’s family sparked the probe, police in the eastern state of Bihar said Friday. ‘Pakadua Vivah’ (forced marriage) is a practice specific to Bihar and surrounding areas, and is mainly carried out by poor families who cannot afford a dowry — still a widespread expectation in India.

The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has described the recent killings in Logo and Guma Local Government Areas of Benue State as a communal crisis. The police helmsman said this in an interview with State House correspondents on Friday after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari. Idris noted that he was at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja to discuss with President Buhari on how to effectively secure the country.