President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed sadness over the sudden demise of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Olatokunbo Babatunde Sofoluwe, who died at the weekend at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). Equally, authorities of the institution, have declared a three-day mourning in honour of Sofoluwe. Jonathan who recalled the accomplishments of the [...]
A Leader of Hausa Community in Abia, Alhaji Mohammed Umaru has advised President Goodluck Jonathan to jettison plans to dialogue with the Boko Haram group. Umaru, who is the Public Relations Officer of Northern Community in Abia, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia on Sunday. He [...]
Following the revelations of the principal officers of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the deluge of questions by the ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives probing the near collapse of the Nigeria capital market on Wednesday, Director-General of the SEC, Ms. Arunma Oteh, has admitted that there was division and rancour [...]
A list comprising of names of suspected backers of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram has been prepared by the federal government. A local newspaper reports that the list was compiled by top security chiefs at a meeting on ending the the ceaseless attacks unleashed by the sect. The security chiefs were said to have worked [...]
Expressing its concerns in a statement issued by Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, US also described as “disgraceful assault”, the attack on church services at the Bayero University Kano (BUK) where two professors and several students were gruesomely killed. Condemning attempts to inflame Christian-Muslim tensions, US expressed support for “those who recognise Nigeria’s ethnic and [...]
Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Monday asked Nigerians to warm up for another round of massive demonstration over revelations of endemic corruption on fuel subsidy debacle, remarking that the trend has brought huge embarrassment to both Nigerians and the country across the world. Soyinka, who made this remark at a joint press conference he addressed [...]
A consortium of civil society groups yesterday converged on Abuja with a call on the House of Representatives to ask President Goodluck Jonathan to sack the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke over the fuel subsidy scam. They further asked the president to prosecute the minister and other public servants, who participated in the subsidy [...]
Reacting to cynicism over the implementation of the fuel subsidy probe report, the President said he won’t spare anybody who is culpable in the scam. President Goodluck Jonathan also said that he will not reach out or beg any lawmaker. This is the fall-out of the debate on the subsidy report in the Senate yesterday. [...]
Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has assured the winner of the Nigerian Idol, Mercy Chinwo, that the government will support her education and career. Amaechi spoke when Ms Chinwo visited him at the Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday. ‘’I want to say congratulations to you for winning because you merited it,’’ he said. Amaechi described [...]
Chairman of the Senate Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Appropriation and Finance, Magnus Abe, has said that Nigerians should expect a thorough report on the investigation of government’s fuel subsidy regime. Senator Abe dismissed reports that the Senate was under pressure to present its own version of the fuel subsidy probe after the controversy [...]
The Benin Monarch, Oba Erediauwa, yesterday endorsed Adams Oshiomhole for a second term in office ahead of the July 14 governorship election. Oba’s endorsement came when the governor led leaders of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to the Palace to seek his blessings and support. According to the Oba who spoke through his top [...]
Federal Civil Service Commission, FCSC has approved suspension of the five civil servants who were recently charged to court in connection with their alleged involvement in fraudulent practices at the Police Pensions Office with effect from March 29, 2012. This was contained in a statement, yesterday, in Abuja by Tope Ajakaiye, Deputy Director Press and [...]
The House of Representatives has threatened to severe all legislative relationships with President Goodluck Jonathan, including refusing to pass the 2013 budget, if the Executive fails to implement the recommendations of its committee probing the fuel subsidy regime. The committee had in its report made public on Wednesday directed various government agencies and companies with [...]
A female Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Mariam Aloma, has been nominated to replace Justice Dahiru Musdapher as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, come July 16 when Musdapher will retire. However, her appointment is subject to ratification by the Presidency. This came as Justice Musdapher, yesterday, debunked insinuations that he resigned his appointment, [...]
The National Chairman of the proposed United Peoples Grand Alliance (UPGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie, has given reasons he stayed away from the burial ceremonies organised for his late mentor, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, with whom he closely associated for 22 years. Okorie, whose new party, UPGA, is awaiting registration at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), [...]
A former Nigerian state governor was jailed by a British court for 13 years on Tuesday for his part in a $250 million fraud of state funds. James Ibori, 49, who was governor of Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta State between 1999 and 2007, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in London. Scotland Yard says that during [...]
President Goodluck Jonathan has told an Abuja High Court that talks about his presidential ambition for 2015 existed only in the realm of speculation as he has not declared interest or discussed it with anybody. The President said he is currently running his first term of four years as provided by the 1999 Constitution. He [...]
The presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the 2011 general elections, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has declared his intention to re-contest the seat in the 2015 general elections. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Buhari made his intention known while addressing CPC supporters in Kaduna who visited him. He [...]
NIGERIANS got yesterday a rare insight into this country’s financial health. But the news is not cheery. The country is going broke, with only $3.6 billion left in the excess crude account, Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said. The Coordinating Minister for the Economy (CME) spoke when she met with members of Civil Society Organisations [...]
The Federal Executive Council (FEC), on Wednesday, approved N2.6billion for the printing of 40 million permanent voters card by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). While briefing journalists after the weekly FEC meeting which was chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan, Information Minister, Labaran Maku, said the issuance of the permanent voters card was in line [...]
A former Headteacher of Western Boys High School,Benin City, U.X Orhue, was among the 18 permanent secretaries sworn in by Governor Adams Oshiomhole yesterday. Speaking at the ceremony, Oshiomhole said the permanent secretaries were appointed on merit. He said: “Our campaign against godfatherism means even in the civil service, appointment should not be based on [...]
ABUJA — Former Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State, yesterday, said he was not on the run from justice as reported by a section of the media. Sylva in a statement by his media aide, Doifie Ola, said he had remained a private citizen since his removal from office by the Supreme Court and as [...]
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State yesterday honoured Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka by naming a modern art gallery after him. The governor, who named the gallery ‘Kongi Harvest’ said the gesture is in recognition of Soyinka’s contributions to the development of African Art.Fashola, who declared the 2012 Lagos Black Heritage Festival, said the main [...]
FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday resigned his position as chairman of the Board of Trustees, BoT, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, saying the move would enable him fulfill his duties as a statesman locally and internationally. The unexpected resignation which caused ripples in party circles last night, Obasanjo added, would also free him to [...]
There was drama at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Abuja yesterday when three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) lined up to defend a former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Atiku Abubakar Kigo and five others. They were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 16-count [...]
