nigeria news lead

August 31, 2013   Bianca denies dating Femi Fani-Kayode •I did not lie against her F ormer Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has dismissed as a lie the claim by the wife to the late Ikemba of Nnewi, Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Bianca, that he never knew her. In a statement by Mr. Bisi Lawal on his behalf yesterday (Friday), the former minister insisted that the former beauty queen’s claim was false. Fani-Kayode was reacting to a newspaper advertorial where Bianca threatened to sue him for mentioning her name in his article. Bianca claimed in the report that she had never met the former minister in her life. Reacting to the claim, Fani-Kayode said, “Ordinarily he would have not have said a word about this matter because he sympathises with her for whatever she may have been going through. “However now that she has put it in the public realm, Chief Fani-Kayode is compelled to formally respond. To the assertion that he never knew her an...

August 27, 2013 Suntai writes assembly, seeks to resume duty (1) Taraba State Governor Danbaba Suntai being assisted out of an aircraft by his aides at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja ... on Sunday; (2) An SUV that conveyed him to the VIP lounge of the airport; (3) Security personnel and aides welcoming him at the Jalingo airport.   RECUPERATING Governor Danbaba Suntai may have sent a letter to the Taraba State House of Assembly  seeking to resume  work. The letter, according to a United States- based Nigerian online news portal, SaharaReporters, was  on Monday  received by the Speaker of the House of Assembly,Haruna Tsokwa.  The portal did not say exactly when the letter was written and the day the governor, who arrived in the country from the US after a 10-month medical sojourn, hoped to commence duties. But it quoted sources close to the Assembly as saying that Suntai, in the letter, claimed to have fully ...

August 27, 2013 Anambra 2014: CNPP hails Okorocha for Ngige’s endorsement Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha   The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties on Sunday said the All Progressives Grand Alliance did not have the will to win the November 16 governorship election in Anambra State. It also congratulated Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State for ditching APGA for the newly-formed All Progressives Congress. In a statement through the National Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu, the CNPP noted that with Okorocha’s exit from APGA to APC and the role he played to midwife a seamless APC primary election in Anambra, APGA’s end was near in the state. According to the statement, Okorocha’s exit from APGA and entry into the APC is a clarion call to Ndigbo to join the progressive train, “where hard work, innovation and competition more than patronage, prevails.”  

August 27, 2013 10 new parties apply for registration – INEC   INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega The Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday said 10 new political parties had applied to it for registration. Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said this in response to one of our correspondent’s enquiry to the decision of six governors of the Peoples Democratic Party to float a new party known as the Voice of the People. He said, “I find it difficult to respond to details and particulars of media speculations about applications to INEC for party registration. “But it is true that there are more than 10 applications pending currently before the Commission. Application for party registration is a routine experience of INEC. “Really, you could say the Commission receives an average of one application per week. And this is so routine that I can’t begin to proffer particulars of the applications.” When asked wh...

August 27, 2013 Banire deplores kidnapping, wants Ozekhome released Mike Ozekhome   A legal practitioner and former Commissioner for Transport in Lagos State, Dr. Muiz Banire, on Monday expressed concern over the spate of kidnappings in the country and call on Nigerians to cooperate with security agencies to reduce the trend. The National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress in a statement in Abuja titled, “Enough of Kidnappers’ Reign in Nigeria” also called on the abductors of Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) to release him. He said, “I deplore the recent incontinent wave of kidnappings in our dear country, Nigeria. The recent and most bloody kidnapping of Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) in Edo State, is quite alarming and frightening.  It is a confirmation of the truism in the aphorism that the death of a relative is an assertion of one’s own mortality.  It is a most condemnable incident that we must all rise up to stop.” According ...

August 27, 2013 Boko Haram kills 14, injures nine in Borno Boko Haram members   Nigerian Islamists on Monday attacked Bama, a town in Borno State killing 14 pro-government youth vigilantes and injuring nine others, a local official who attended a mass funeral for the victims has said. Reuters reported that Sunday’s attack was one of the spates of deadly assaults by the Boko Haram Islamist sect this month that raises doubts about whether a military offensive against it since May can succeed. Local vigilante groups run by youth volunteers have been instrumental in helping the military capture Boko Haram members, but they have also made them a target for the insurgents, drawing civilians further into the conflict. The Chairman, Bama Local Government Area of Borno State,  Alhaji Baba Shehu Gulumba, told journalists in Bama, near Maiduguri, the Borno State capital that the insurgents disguised as soldiers and lured the youths into a trap. “T...

August 22, 2013 PDP NEC meeting: Automatic ticket for Jonathan may top agenda     President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Members of the National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan will be proposing an amendment to  the party’s constitution at   today’s NEC meeting.   The amendment  will give the President  and  governors currently serving their first tenure automatic ticket for  the 2015 elections.  It was gathered that  Jonathan’s loyalists would , through a motion  at the meeting, seek the inclusion of “the right of first refusal” in the party’s constitution.  A source at the Wadata Plaza National Secretariat of the PDP Abuja, made this known just as the President met with  the Sokoto State Governor, Aliyu Wamakko, and   PDP leaders from the South-West, including ex-convict, Chief Olabode George.  The source sai...

August 21, 2013 Protests as policeman kills okada rider, shoots woman There was pandemonium in Ladega, Ojubode area of Ikorodu, Lagos State, on Tuesday after a policeman attached to the Rapid Response Squad allegedly killed a commercial motorcycle rider, popularly called okada rider. I learnt that the policeman, identified simply as Haruna, in company with three of his colleagues, had arrested the okada riders for allegedly breaking the state traffic law. He opened fire on the rider, identified only as Lekan, when he reisisted the arrest. It was learnt that a passerby, Modikat Babatunde, was also hit by the bullet. Chairman, Motorcycle Operators Association of Lagos State, Ikorodu Branch, Mr. Kayode Jimoh, told our correspondent that the incident occurred around 2.30pm. Jimoh said, “Around 2.30pm, four policemen attached to RRS came in a white Toyota Hilux van and parked around Ladega junction. The police driver remained inside the van while three poli...

August 22, 2013 N100 bribe: Policewoman caught in video arrested   The Lagos State Police Command on Wednesday said it had arrested a policewoman caught in a video footage demanding a bribe of N100 from a commercial bus driver. Public Relations Officer of the command, Ngozi Braide, told our correspondent on the telephone that the arrest followed a probe of the video which has been circulating on the social media.  “We have arrested her and she is presently in custody. She will be made to undergo an orderly room trial and the outcome will be made public,’’ Braide said. When asked to provide the name and the station the female cop was attached, Braide said she could not immediately provide the details and told our correspondent to call back. Subsequent calls placed to her phone were not answered. A text message sent to her phone on the matter was also not replied. In the last 24 hours, the one-minute 25 seconds video, which first appeared on ...

August 22, 2013 APC unfolds manifesto, targets 40,000MW   Interim National Chairman, All Progressive Congress, Chief Bisi Akande The All Progressives Congress on Wednesday in Abuja  unfolded a seven-point  cardinal programme that would ensure that electricity generation hit 40,000 megawatts within four to eight years of its leadership. The  party, in a 31-page manifesto, which was presented to Nigerians  listed the   other components of the cardinal programme as war against corruption, food security,   integrated transport network and free education. Others are devolution of power, accelerated economic growth and affordable health care. According to the party, the programme  will transform Nigeria into a progressive state anchored on social democracy. “Our government shall vigorously pursue the expansion of electricity generation and distribution of up to 40,000 megawatts in four to eight years,”  ...

August 20,2013 Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai may be charged for 'judiciary insult' Mr Tsvangirai says as PM he should have been consulted about judicial appointments   Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai may face contempt of court charges for "disparaging remarks" he made about the judiciary. High Court judge Chinembiri Bhunu said prosecutors would be informed. His comments came as Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party lost two court cases relating to the disputed 31 July election. The Constitutional Court said President Robert Mugabe's re-election was "free, fair and credible". Mr Mugabe won with 61% of the presidential vote against 34% for Mr Tsvangirai. The two had been part of power-sharing government formed in 2009 under pressure from regional leaders following elections the year before marred by violence and allegations of rigging. The Constitutional...

August 20, 2013 Jonathan directs immediate action to end ASUU strike   President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday directed the two Federal Government committees negotiating the requests by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to take immediate measures at ending the on-going strike. The Chairman of the Universities Needs Implementation Committee, Gov. Gabriel Suswam of Benue, made this known after a closed-door meeting of the two committees and other stakeholders with President Jonathan at the State House.in Abuja. Vice-President Namadi Sambo, the Chairman of the Earned Allowance Committee and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim were in attendance at the meeting. Also in attendance were, Ministers of Education, Prof. Ruqayyat Rufai, Labour, Emeka Wogu, the Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okogie and the Chief of Staff to the P...

August 20,2013 Divided Egyptians united in grief Many people across Egypt have been burying their dead following the violence of recent weeks The recent violence in Egypt has claimed the lives of people on both sides of the country's political divide. But while the bloodshed is polarising the country further, grief is one thing uniting them, says the BBC's Ahmed Maher. Here in Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, it was a tragedy that left the family of Ahmed Qadri devastated. Mr Qadri was shot twice in his chest and abdomen as security forces launched a brutal crackdown on the Brotherhood supporters camping outside Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo on 14 August. A senior Muslim Brotherhood leader in his hometown, Mr Qadri is survived by a wife and three children. His 22-year-old eldest son, Fidaa, says he will not get over the death of his father for the rest of his life. Fighting back tears, Fidaa said he mad...

August 20, 2013 Five northern govs lack respect for Jonathan – Gulak Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak   Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, on Monday accused the five northern governors, who recently embarked on a nation-wide consultations on the country’s state of affairs, of disrespecting President Goodluck Jonathan. The state governors are Sule Lamido (Jigawa),  Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto),  Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa). Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State was named the sixth disrespecting state governor by Gulak. The Presidential aide, in a statement by his Political Affairs Assistant, Godwin Akpovie, was reacting to a statement credited to Lamido, in which he described Gulak as “a boy.” The governor had taken on Gulak for asking them to settle whatever differences that existed between them and the President within, instead of...

August 20,2013 Elmore Leonard, crime novelist, dies aged 87 US crime writer Elmore Leonard, author of such books as Get Shorty, Maximum Bob and Out of Sight, has died at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke.   Leonard suffered a stroke earlier this month in Detroit A statement on his official website said he had died on Tuesday morning "surrounded by his loving family". The author of 45 novels, Leonard had been in the process of writing his 46th. Born in New Orleans in 1925, he started out writing western stories before turning to crime fiction in the 1960s. Renowned for his terse, no-nonsense style and sparse use of dialogue, his works inspired numerous screen adaptations. Hombre, 3.10 to Yuma, Get Shorty and Rum Punch were among those filmed, the latter by Quentin Tarantino under the title Jackie Brown. One of his more heroic characters, US Marshal Raylan Givens, inspired the TV series Justified, while...

August 20,2013 German Chancellor Angela Merkel to visit Dachau camp Dachau was the first camp to be built by the Nazis in 1933   Angela Merkel is to visit the former Nazi concentration camp of Dachau later on Tuesday, in the first such visit to the site by a German chancellor. She will make a speech warning of the continuing threat from the far right before touring the camp, where tens of thousands were murdered.  The visit is part of Mrs Merkel's election campaign and will be followed by a rally in a beer tent nearby. Political opponents have called the combination "tasteless". After making a short speech, Mrs Merkel is to lay a wreath of flowers and tour the remnants of the camp late on Tuesday afternoon. Max Mannheimer, the 93-year-old president of the Dachau camp committee, has long lobbied for Mrs Merkel to go to the camp, near Munich in southern Germany. He hailed her decision as "histori...

August 20, 2013 OPC member kills socialite during gun salute Ismaila Rahmon The police have commenced  investigations into the murder of a 72-year-old man, Alhaji Abdulkareem Kadiru, in Ijora Badia area of Lagos State. According to the police, the victim was killed in error by an Oodua Peoples Congress member, Ismaila Rahmon, who was in charge of security at a school where a Ramadan event took place. Rahman allegedly killed the Alhaji with a gun he seized from an armed robber but failed to turn it over to the police. PUNCH Metro learnt that on August 4, 2013, Rahmon and another OPC member, identified simply as Obasanjo, had gone to provide security for the victim and other dignitaries at the event. It was gathered that Kadiru was a generous man and because of his nature, touts usually surrounded him and sang his praises so that he would give them money Rahmon was said to have opened fire in a bid to disperse the touts. It was learnt that aft...

August 20, 2013 Fukushima nuclear plant: Radioactive water leak found The tsunami knocked out cooling systems to the reactors at Fukushima   Radioactive water has leaked from a storage tank into the ground at Japan's Fukushima plant, its operator says. Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said the leak of at least 300 tonnes of the highly radioactive water was discovered on Monday. The plant, crippled by the earthquake and tsunami in 2011, has seen a series of water leaks and power failures. The tsunami knocked out cooling systems to the reactors, three of which melted down. An employee discovered the leak on Monday morning, Tepco said in a statement. Officials described the leak as a level-one incident - the lowest level - on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (Ines), which measures nuclear events. This is the first time that Japan has declared such an event since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, however....

August  20,2013 Egypt Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie held   Images of Mr Badie shortly after his arrest were shown on the private channel ON TV  The most senior leader in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, has been arrested in Cairo. Mr Badie, who was wanted over alleged incitement to violence and murder, has been temporarily replaced as "general guide" by his deputy, Mahmoud Ezzat. In another development, Egypt's ex-vice president Mohamed ElBaradei is to face trial on charges of breaching national trust after resigning last week. Almost 900 people have been killed in the country since Wednesday. Among them are 36 Islamist protesters who died in a prison van in Cairo on Sunday. The UN's human rights agency OHCHR has said the deaths of the detainees are "deeply disturbing and need to be fully investigated". Spokeswoman Liz Throssell said all those detained must be "treated hum...