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Sunday, 23 July 2017 03:20

Constitution amendment: Reps fix minimum age for presidential aspirants at 35

• No second term for VP, D-Gov who succeed dead incumbent • Road cleared for independent candidates • Local governments to get financial autonomy • 35 percent appointments reserved for women Future presidential elections in the country may be thrown open to interested Nigerians from the age of 35 and above, if constitution amendment proposals now before the House of Representatives are adopted. The current minimum age for qualification for the office is 40. Besides, Nigerians from the age of 25 years may also be allowed to seek election into the state assemblies and the House of Representatives, down from…

Sunday, 23 July 2017 03:19

Freed Chibok girls speak: Sambisa full of sorrow

Chibok Secondary School girls, released by Boko Haram insurgents in May 2017, have appealed to the Federal Government to devote attention to the release of other abducted non-schoolgirls who are still under the captivity of the dreaded terrorists. The girls were released after Federal Government’s successful negotiation with the notorious sect. The girls, who spoke through their leader, Miss Hauwa Ntakai, made the call while speaking with journalists during a special luncheon organised by Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in Abuja on Saturday. The Chibok schoolgirl noted that government was focusing more attention on the release of…

Sunday, 23 July 2017 03:17

Floods sack cities nationwide

Rain returned to Lagos yesterday with fresh flooding in many parts. The situation hampered human movement on a day set aside for election into the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas. The rain, accompanied with thunderstorms, lasted for more than two hours, confining many residents to their apartments, until it subsided. Flooding of the roads compelled road users to drive against traffic in some areas as people rushed to beat the 7a.m. restriction of movement time. Sango Otta in Ogun State was also badly flooded in the aftermath of yesterday’s rain. Major roads in the industrial town…

Sunday, 23 July 2017 03:16

U.S. offers scholarship to 140 Nigerian students into American universities

United States government says it has helped 140 Nigerian students gain scholarships to attend American colleges and universities. U.S. acting deputy chief of mission, Aruna Amirthanayagam, said this on Friday at a press briefing on pre-departure orientation for the latest beneficiaries of the Education USA programme. He said the programme provides clear and authoritative information on USA undergraduate, graduate and post graduate academic programmes. “Our advising centres both in Lagos and Abuja assist high achieving, low income students to apply to US colleges that will offer admission with full scholarships,” he said. Mr. Amirthanayagam said the programme removes the financial…

Sunday, 23 July 2017 03:13

Bakassi people ‘discover new island but FG foot-dragging’ - Leader

A leader of the Bakassi community has accused the Nigerian government of failing to relocate residents of the peninsula to a new island he said was recently discovered. The paramount ruler of Bakassi Local Government Area, Cross River State, Etim Edet, said the government was “foot-dragging” on the matter. He said the island, called Dayspring, was good for the habitation of the mainly fishing Bakassi population, displaced after the peninsula was ceded to Cameroon in 2008. But he said the government had abandoned the Bakassi people. Mr. Edet said the people of Bakassi were forced to live at the mercy…

Saturday, 22 July 2017 03:18

Guinean President orders 24 hours prayer for Buhari

Guinean President, Alpha Condé, asked all Muslims in the country to hold a 24-hour prayer for President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday. Condé gave this order while addressing the country’s Council of Ministers in a meeting on Thursday. At the meeting, the Guinean President expressed concern for his Nigerian counterpart’s health and afterwards declared that Friday be devoted to prayers for Buhari’s quick recovery. According to an online platform, www.guineenews.org, Condé said Buhari was expected to visit Nigeria in March, but was unable to do so because of his health. As a result, the Guinean President asked that prayers be held…

Saturday, 22 July 2017 03:11

"It's my right to attend rallies, grant press interviews", Nnamdi Kanu says in fresh bid against bail conditions

Leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, Mr. Namdi Kanu, has filed a motion to fight the bail conditions granted to him by the Federal High Court in Abuja. Kanu asked the court, where he is being prosecuted along with others on treasonable felony charges, to vary the conditions of the bail which it had granted him. Justice Binta Nyako, had in her ruling delivered on April 25, 2017, granted bail to Kanu, but dismissed the separate bail applications filed by his co-defendants – the National Coordinator of IPOB, Mr. Chidiebere Onwudiwe; an IPOB member, Benjamin Madubugwu; and a former field…

Saturday, 22 July 2017 03:07

Thousands of Nigerian girls at risk of trafficking as sex workers, IOM says

Thousands of Nigerian migrant girls being brought to Italy are in great danger of being forced into prostitution in Europe, often naive about their fate at the hands of traffickers, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Friday. The number of female Nigerians, many of them minors, arriving by sea in Italy surged over the past three years, from 1,454 in 2014 to 11,000 last year. Some 4,000 have arrived so far in 2017, the United Nations agency said. Based on data collected at landing sites, it estimates that 80 percent are "potential victims" of trafficking as sex workers,…

Saturday, 22 July 2017 03:06

Bombed Rann refugee center wasn't marked properly - Defense Hq

Nigeria's military says the air force mistakenly launched an airstrike on a refugee camp in January because the camp was not appropriately marked as a humanitarian base in the military's operational maps. Defense forces said Friday in a statement that when it noticed mass movement through aerial satellite observation on Jan. 17, it was mistaken for Boko Haram activity. It called for all humanitarian activities to be marked on military ground and aerial maps, and a mandatory exchange of information to avoid future mistakes. A Borno state government official had said more than 230 people were killed when Nigeria's air…

Friday, 21 July 2017 16:09

White House press secretary Sean Spicer resigns

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has quit, reportedly in protest at a shake-up of the communications team. Mr Spicer stepped down because he was unhappy with President Donald Trump's appointment of a new communications director, reports the New York Times. Combative Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci has been picked for the role that Mr Spicer partially filled. Mr Spicer's press briefings were a cable news hit, but he withdrew from camera in recent weeks. BBC

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Friday, 21 July 2017 16:07

Former Attorney General Olu Onagoruwa dies at 80

A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Olu Onagoruwa, is dead. Mr. Onagoruwa, who first made a name as a human rights activist, was confirmed dead on Friday morning. He served as Attorney-General of the Federation under the military government of Sani Abacha between 1993 and 1994. He had been suffering from stroke since the brutal killing of his son, Toyin Onagoruwa, in December 1996 by yet unknown gunmen. The death of his wife few years ago also compounded his health problem. Mr. Onagoruwa was appointed AGF by late Mr. Abacha, in November 1993. He, however, left…

Friday, 21 July 2017 16:05

US to ban Americans from traveling to NKorea

The Trump administration will ban American citizens from traveling to North Korea, U.S. officials said Friday, following the death of university student Otto Warmbier who died in June after falling into a coma in a North Korean prison. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had decided to impose "geographic travel restriction" for North Korea, the officials said, which would make it illegal to use U.S. passports to enter the country. They said the restriction would go into effect 30 days after a notice is published in the Federal Register, but it was not immediately clear when that would be. There was…

Friday, 21 July 2017 03:34

Osinbajo writes Reps, wants N135.6bn moved among budgets of various ministries

Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, has written to the House of Representatives requesting approval for “virement’’ of N135.6 billion to fund some critical projects in 2017 budget. The request was made in a letter dated July 18, 2017, which was read to members of the House by its Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara, at plenary on Thursday in Abuja. The acting president drew the attention of the House to discussions and agreements between the executive and legislature before the 2017 Appropriation Bill was signed into law. Part of the agreement was that the executive should submit a “virement proposal’’ to move some…

Friday, 21 July 2017 03:33

Fresh suit wants FEC to declare Buhari unfit to continue as president

Another suit has been filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja asking for an order compelling Federal Executive Council to declare ailing President Muhammadu Buhari unfit to continue to hold office and another mandating the National Assembly to constitute a medical panel to verify the President’s fitness. The suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/671/2017, was filed on Thursday by the incorporated trustees of a civil society group, Kingdom Human Rights Foundation International. Joined as respondents to the suit are Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, the Executive Council of the Federation (otherwise known as the Federal Executive Council), Attorney General of the Federation and…

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