WELCOME TO DAILY NEWS BLOG!!!

The Peoples Democratic Party has said it is wrong for anyone to abuse or insult President Muhammadu Buhari. It said this while charging Nigerians to use the occasion of the nation’s 55th Independence anniversary to rekindle the spirit of patriotism. It also asked them to exhibit actions that promote democratic ideals and peaceful co-existence at all levels in the country. The party said the occasion should remind Nigerians their common root and destiny as well as the country’s resilience and determination to succeed in all spheres of life as a strong, united and prosperous nation. ADVERTISEMENT The PDP, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in Abuja on Wednesday, congratulated the citizens for keeping faith in the Nigerian project and working together in building a strong nation. He urged Nigerians to use the anniversary to recommit themselves to respecting their leaders at the local government, state and national le...

President Muhammadu Buhari in his Independence broadcast on Thursday (today) assured Nigerians that his government was not persecuting anybody but said all must be ready to account for their deeds. Borrowing from his inaugural speech on May 29, Buhari said, “I bear no ill will against anyone on past events. Nobody should fear anything from me. “We are not after anyone. People should only fear the consequences of their actions. I hereby invite everyone, whatever his or her political view, to join me in working for the nation.” ADVERTISEMENT Nigeria today marks 55 years of independence, having secured its freedom from the British colonialists on October 1, 1960. The President said the citizens needed to celebrate notwithstanding the situation in the country, thou he regretted that we had not fully exploited unity of purpose as a nation blessed with vast human and natural resources. Buhari told Nigerians: “We have all the attributes of a great nation. We are...

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State yesterday opened his defence before the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja. The All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, are challenging the validity of Wike’s election as governor on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). At the resumed hearing in the petition, Governor Wike, through his counsel, Okey Wali (SAN) led a total of seven witnesses in evidence, who corroborated the submissions of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that earlier told the tribunal that the Rivers State governorship election was peaceful, successful and devoid of any form of violence. The witnesses, most of whom were retired civil servants, who voted during the election, told the three-member panel of the tribunal that election materials arrived at their various polling units in good times and that card readers and voters’ registers were used for a...

As the Nigerian Political airspace hits up, PDP has set trap for unsuspecting Northern contestants.The Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Uche Secondus, on Wednesday in Abuja said the party has zoned its presidential ticket for the 2019 general elections to the North. The party also said it would not repeat the “mistakes” it made in 2015.

Twenty – one names were submitted as Ministerial nominees to the Senate President, with plans to send others very early on Tuesday before plenary session. Senate President Saraki received the long awaited ministerial list from the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari at 4.59 pm. The Chief of Staff to the President was accompanied to Saraki’s office by the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang. There was a new twist to the submission of Ministerial list to the Senate as it was received directly by the Senate President and brought by the Chief of Staff to the President as against the tradition where the office of the Senate President through the registry receives it from the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matter( Senate).

President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial list contains a number of familiar All Progressives Congress (APC) names such as Babatunde Fashola, former governor of Lagos state, and Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers state, TheCable can report. Also nominated to be minister is Lai Mohammed, national publicity secretary of the ruling party, and Kayode Fayemi, who lost his Ekiti governorship re-election bid in 2014 to Ayodele Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). From the south-east are the likes of Chris Ngige, former governor of Anambra state and former senator of the federal republic; and Ogbonnaya Onu, first executive governor of Abia state and former national chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), on whose ticket Buhari contested and lost the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections. Udoma Udo Udoma, a former senator who represented Akwa Ibom south senatorial constituency at the national assembly, made it as well. Buhari also nominated for ministeri...

Leader of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, yesterday, gave what he termed as genuine reasons the United Nations should allow Biafra to be separated from Nigeria. One of the reasons, he stated, was that the population of the former Eastern state, now South East and part of South South that make up Biafra land can currently boast of over 10 million people, adding that  the Biafran people naturally do not share similar culture and tradition with Hausa-Fulani of the North and Yoruba of the South West as to continue to remain together under one country called Nigeria. According to Uwazuruike, another reason was that MASSOB, as a separatist group, had all it takes to run a sovereign state of Biafra, having had enough instruments, structures, flag, currency, coat of arms and defence to assume a status of an existing government. Uwazuruike, who spoke to newsmen, yesterday in Onitsha, Anambra State, through MASSOB’s...

Armed policemen on Tuesday averted a crisis in Calabar following a fresh application by the counsel for the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Paul Erokoro, challenging the competence of the Chairman, Cross River National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, Justice Christopher Awubra. As early as 8am, party supporters in the cases listed for the day had besieged the courtroom but a few minutes to the commencement of sitting, counsel for the PDP and the Labour Party were called into the judge’s chamber for a meeting. When the lawyers came out from the meeting with the judges, indications emerged that the tribunal would not sit because Erokoro had filed a fresh application challenging the competence of the tribunal chairman. Erokoro, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, claimed that the judge could not continue to preside over matters because he was a serving Customary Court judge in Taraba State. According to him, this violates the provisions of the consti...

Ikeja Electric has moved to reduce the fixed charges for power consumption being paid by its customers by 50 per cent. The firm said in a statement on Tuesday that its managing director, Mr. Abiodun Ajifowobaje, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ consultative forum on cost-reflective tariff in Lagos. Household consumers under Ikeja Electric and the other power distribution companies currently pay N750 as fixed charge monthly. If the proposal to reduce the charge is approved, customers will be paying N375. Ajifowobaje said the company had submitted the reduction proposal to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission for approval. When our correspondent contacted the Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. Sam Amadi, on the development, he said he was aware that the power distribution companies were reviewing their fixed charges. According to him, the distribution companies are independent entities and can do whatsoever they wish with the...

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Tuesday in Abuja advocated a review of the extant laws prohibiting electronic voting in the country. The commission was of the view that the scientific system of voting had become an unavoidable reality as evidenced in the major role technology played in the success recorded in the 2015 general election. The Chairman of INEC, Hajia Amina Zakari, represented by INEC National Commissioner, Mr. Lawrence Nwuruku, said this during the post-2015 Electoral Reform Symposium organised by the National Democratic Institute and other civil society organisations. The introduction of the card reader machine by the immediate past INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, was said to have minimised rigging and electoral irregularities during the 2015 general election. At the event chaired by a former Senate President, Dr. Ken Nnamani, the INEC chairman raised many posers on the need for comprehensive electoral reforms ahead of the 2019 general elec...