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The N4Atiku Group has described the constitution of the Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress as a clear sign of insincerity and negation of the claims by President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC that the 16-year rule of the Peoples Democratic Party was responsible for Nigeria’s present situation. In a statement made available to the media on Monday, the group, through its spokesman, Isiaka Abdulai pointed out that “over the years, the President and his party, against all rules of common sense, have accused the PDP of bringing Nigeria to her knees. Instead of addressing the ineptitude of their government, the APC continues to massage its ego with stories that have reduced governance to the extremity of disgrace”. While describing the PDP presidential candidate as “a man with the genuine interest of the country at heart”, the Group continued that “something is disturbingly wrong with the narrative that PDP destroyed Nigeria. As a matter of fact, the right

The Oyo State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the opposition parties in the state to focus on their impending failure at the polls and campaign their manifestoes instead of trying to draw APC out through brickbats and mudslinging.         The party also took a swipe at the Ibadan North West/South West Federal Constituency candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Wasiu Olatunbosun for condemning the APC, saying that Wasiu Olatunbosun was an integral part of APC government until his selfishness and self-centeredness pushed him out. The party in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Dr AbdulAzeez Olatunde on Sunday said that the party is focused on the sustenance of peace, infrastructural, agricultural and industrial revolutions as well as the continuous restoration of the lost glory of the state, saying that any party that is sure of his past achievements and manifestoes should come forward to market it. Dr Olatunde said that the party’

Death has been announced of the Nigerian’s Second Republic President, Alhaji Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari, GCFR. Shagari we reliably gathered died at the National Hospital Abuja on Friday after a brief illness. He died at the age of 93. His demise was announced on twitter by his grandson, Bello Shagari. Bello wrote, ”I regret announcing the death of my grandfather, H.E Alhaji Shehu Shagari, who died right now after brief illness at the National hospital, Abuja.”

Online journalists have been urged to insist on ethical practice and cautioned against rushing to publish, so as to guard against the spread of fake news. The call was made in Ibadan on Thursday by the South West Bureau Chief of The Nation Newspapers, Bisi Oladele and Mr. Wale Ojo Lanre, a former Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Oyo State Council. He made the call while speaking at a lecture organized by the Online Media Practitioners of Nigeria, OMPAN. Oladele, who has been a journalist for more than two decades tasked online journalists on fact checking and being innovative. “You must get good and credible content all the time. You must also remember that innovation is the language that can sustain you in this industry”, he said. He pointed out that digital journalism is moving at top speed, hence the need for online journalists to upgrade themselves on a regular basis. “No one who wants to remain relevant can remain static”, he told the participants. Spe

Kola Karim, the polished and stylish international businessman and CEO of Shoreline Energy has a specialty,  starting companies and nurturing them to success. Building extremely viable international partnerships is also one of his innate characteristics. What many may however not know about him is that he is fiercely loyal to his friends and whenever any of his friends needs support, he is always there to lend a hand. If his friend has an aspiration, to him, it is all or nothing. He never supports in half measures; he goes the whole hog. The news now is that Kola Karim has built yet another partnership. Thanks to the man whose company recently acquired 51% stake in Entrepose, a leading provider of construction and mechanical services to International Oil Companies, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s presidential campaign has received a major boost. Kola Karim has promised a support of $ 30.5 million. He also promised another ₦ 9 billion before the end of January. With that, Atiku will have

The Association of Online Media Practitioners of Nigeria (OMPAN), Oyo State chapter is set to hold a day seminar in Ibadan. This was disclosed in a Press Release signed by state's Chairman of the Association, Mr. Remi Oladoye and made available to journalists by PRO of the Association in the state, Dare Adeniran. According to the release, the seminar with the Theme 'Online Journalism and Media Integrity in Nigeria', comes up tomorrow Thursday 27 December, 2018, at Dapo Aderogba Hall, NUJ Press Centre, Iyaganku GRA, Ibadan by 10am. Mr Bisi Oladele, South West Bureau Chief of The Nation Newspaper, is the guest lecturer at the seminar while Ambassador Wale Ojo Lanre, Associate Editor Nigerian Tribune would also be speaking on Developmental Journalism. “Association of Online Media Practitioners of Nigeria (OMPAN),  Oyo State chapter is a group of online journalists who have come together to hoist excellence, professionalism, honesty and  objectivity as part o

The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has urged the South West and South East geo-political zones of Nigeria not to be deceived by assurances that their zones would produce the president in 2023. The charged came on the heels of promises from the Presidency regarding which zone would produce the President in 2023. Last week, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha had stated in Owerri  that the South East would get its turn to produce the president in 2023 if it supports President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term. A similar situation played out in Ibadan on Saturday as the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo urged Yorubas to throw their weight behind the President’s second term bid in order to get a chance to produce the president in 2023. In a statement signed by spokesman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Kassim Afegbua, Atiku accused the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, of trading with 2023 in a bid to re

President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2019 Budget Proposals to the Joint Session of the National Assembly on Wednesday 20 December 2018. Its key aim is to, according to the President, ‘further place the economy on the path of inclusive, diversified and sustainable growth in order to continue to lift significant numbers of our citizens out of poverty’. The 2019 Appropriation Bill proposes an aggregate expenditure of N8.83 trillion for the year of which N4.04 trillion is recurrent, N2.31 trillion capital and N2.14 trillion will be devoted to debt service. The planned spending is lower than the 2018 budget by N300 billion. Allowing for 11% inflation rate, its real value is N7.95 trillion. The proposed budget as presented is fundamentally flawed. It deliberately ignores and fails to address current realities and pretends, as Mr. President asserts, ‘we are on the right direction’. On the contrary, the 2019 budget is built on very shaky foundation and makes very generous, often

The Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has stated that Nigerians who have excelled abroad would return home if the country can provide what they get in the countries where they are.  Abubakar expressed the thought via his Twitter handle on Friday, a day after a parley with members of Civil Society Organizations at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja. Pointing out that it is indeed doable, Atiku tweeted “So if we want our citizens who have excelled abroad to return home, let us provide what they get there, and this is doable because we have the human and material resources to do it. This is how I believe our experts abroad can return home”. The Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP, former Governor Peter Obi stated at the event that the PDP does not have the habit of making excuses or blaming others. “People keep asking – ‘Peter, where will you find the money for these projects you’re talking about?’ I always respond that I have governed a state

Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi on Tuesday commissioned the 5.76km rural roads at Ikereku in Akinyele East Local Council Development Area of the state.   The road project with 19 culverts was the pilot scheme of the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) which cut across Ikereku - Oloronbo – Abidogun – Ileba – Abebi - Onigbongbo Village linking Iware Road. Governor Ajimobi stated that the commissioning ceremony was another success story of his administration, stating that the project was aimed at improving the living standards of the people at the grassroots and providing access roads for them to convey their farm produce to the city. The governor, who was represented by the State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun, said that more communities would benefit from the scheme, promising that the project would cover over 500 kilometers of rural roads in Oyo State. He however enjoined the people of Oyo State to

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has blamed the murder of former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, on the rising insecurity in the country, saying the best tribute that President Muhammadu Buhari can pay to the late security chief is to ensure free and fair polls next year and return home to a well-deserved rest. In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Abubakar said had gunmen not waylaid the vehicle in which Alex Badeh was travelling, he would not have sustained the gunshots and the health complications that terminated his life. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar said while Air Chef Marshal Badeh’s death made headline news because of the personality involved, many ordinary Nigerians are either killed or maimed on a daily basis by rampaging armed robbers, kidnappers, herdsmen and hoodlums across the country. He said amid indications that the President Muhammadu Buhari led All Prog

The  media team of the Atiku Abubakar campaign organisation has averred that corruption  become official since the Buhari administration took over. In a statement signed by Paul Ibe, Atiku’s spokesman, the team raised 10 questions for President Buhari. The statement read that the People’s Democratic Party Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, was taken aback last week when Mr. Babachir Lawal, Buhari’s former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, turned up at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, December 13, 2018, where he was received with pomp and pageantry. “Mr. Babachir Lawal attended the launch of the Together Nigeria organized by the Buhari Support Organization (BSO). It is a very sad day for Nigeria, when the President honours a man proven beyond all reasonable doubt to have soiled his hands with money meant for starving refugees. These are the actions which feed the perceptions that has made Nigeria turn in its worst ever Corruption Perception Index rating

The Director-General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), Dr Moddibo Kawu, and other officials of the agency are being investigated by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) over alleged fraud involving N2.5 billion. This was disclosed in a statement by the ICPC's spokesperson, Rasheedat Okoduwa, on Thursday, November 15, 2018. The anti-graft agency disclosed that the fund under probe was from a N10 billion grant released to the agency by the Federal Government in 2016 for a digital switch-over programme. The agency accused Kawu of engaging in corrupt practices through the process of awarding contracts for the handling of the programme. The statement reads, "The Presidency in 2016, released N10 billion to the Ministry of Information and Culture for the digital switch-over programme which entails migration of telephone lines from analogue to digital platforms and a White Paper was issued directing that the pr

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has filed fraud charges against the Akwa Ibom governor, Emmanuel Udom, and several members of his cabinet. Udom was charged in a case involving the president of the Nigeria Bar Association, Paul Usoro. The governor is however covered by constitutional immunity. Mr Usoro pleaded not guilty in a Federal High Court Lagos to charges bordering on N1.4 billion fraud, the News Agency of Nigeria reported. The EFCC preferred a 10-count charge against Mr Usoro, in a case before Justice Muslim Hassan. Also named in the charge is the incumbent governor of Akwa Ibom, Mr Udom, who is described in the charge as being “currently constitutionally immune from prosecution”. Others charged are: The Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Finance, Nsikan Nkan; Accountant-General of the state, Mfon Udomah; state Attorney-General, Uwemedimo Nwoko, and Margaret Ukpe. The cabinet members are said to be at large. In the charge marked FHC/418c/18, the

President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife, Mrs. Aisha Buhari has described what happened at Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo during her visit on Friday 14 December, 2018, as an indication that everyone in the state is APC. There was a mild drama on who to welcome the First Lady between Senator Akpabio's wife and the wife of the incumbent governor, Mrs. Emmanuel. The First Lady, who had gone to the state for the flag-off of a program to empower some 16,000 women and youths, said that the occurrence at the airport was noting but a mere politics. And that as it is widely known that when it comes to President Buhari, it is all about  'movement' which Senator Goodwill Akpabio is championing in the state. Saying that, “it shows that governor of the state Udom Emmanuel and his wife will soon join APC.” “To me, what happened at the airport was just a mere politics but when it comes to President Muhammadu, it is all about movement. It is a movement and we have Senator Gods

Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Monday congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on his 76th birthday. “I wish President Muhammadu Buhari happy birthday even as my family and I pray for long life for him. Despite the fact that we will meet at the polls soon, I very much affirm that we are brothers born from the womb of One Nigeria. Happy Birthday”, the former Vice President tweeted. Earlier in the day, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar had attended a town hall meeting with youths in Lagos. There, Atiku’s running mate, Peter Obi assured the youths that Atiku’s government will invest more in education. “The greatness of any nation is the function of how educated her citizens are”, Obi said. He also promised that “the Atiku Presidency will provide jobs and improve the economy a great deal”. The National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus,  while urging the youths to vote for Atiku affirmed that “a vote for Atiku is a vote for your freed

Justice Maurine Onyetenu of the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, Monday sentenced former lecturer of Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Prof. Richard Iyiola Akindele, to six years imprisonment for demanding sex to pass her student, Monica Osagie. The accused had pleaded not guilty to the charge of sexual harassment preferred against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offenses Commission, ICPC. He had since then been remanded in prison custody following objection to his bail by the prosecution ICPC.W When the case came up on Monday, Akindele opted to change his earlier plea and admitted guilty of the offences as charged.H Hewas arraigned before Justice onyetenu on November 19 for alleged sexual harassment. Meanwhile, efforts by the defence counsel to suspend the sentencing and negotiate for plea bargain failed, as Justice Onyetenu frowned at the rampant cases of students harassment by lecturers. Iustice Onyetenu said “the plea bargain is not a