Abuja
Cleric cautions Nigerians on dangers of unforgiveness
A Catholic cleric, Rev. Fr. Kingsley Ferdinand, has advised Nigerians to cultivate the spirit of forgiveness as it is the only way to make heaven. Ferdinand, the Associate Priest at St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Nyanya, Abuja, gave the advice during the Holy Mass on Sunday. According to him, one of the greatest tragedies of a life is to miss heaven not because the person stole, killed or told lies but because he or she refused to forgive another. “The dangers of unforgiveness are: it makes a soul a candidate of hell, it attracts torments upon a life (spiritual, medical and physical torments) and waters down the voice of prayer (mark 11:25),’’ Ferdinand said. He said that forgiveness was better than vengeance because it led to healing of the body and soul while vengeance led to anger ...
PDP: Edo people will resist attempt to tamper with scheduled date of election
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Sunday said that the people of Edo state would resist any attempt by anybody to tamper with the state governorship election schedule for Sept. 19. PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, at a news conference on Sunday in Abuja alleged that there were plots by certain interests to use frivolous lawsuits to scuttle the scheduled date. “The PDP revealed that the said interests masquerading through certain political groups were seeking to blackmail the judiciary and stampede the court to violate the clear provisions of the Electoral Act and illegally halt the Edo election. “Nigerians are already aware that section 87(10) (11) of the Electoral Act, clearly prohibits the courts from restraining the conduct of party primaries and general elec...
President Buhari prevented Nigeria from becoming a failed state – minister
The Federal Government has said if not for President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria would have become a failed state in 2015. The government’s response may not be unconnected to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent statement that the country was fast drifting to a failed and badly divided state. Obasanjo gave the damning verdict last week at a closed door two-day consultative dialogue convened by him which involved major socio-cultural political organisations such as Afenifere, Northern Elders’ Forum, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Middle Belt Forum and Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF). The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement by the Special Assistant to the President (Media), Office of the Minister of Information and Culture, Segun Adeyemi, said Buhari’s assumption o...
Disquiet in South-West PDP as ex-Governor Fayose meets national chairman
There is disquiet in the South-West Zone of the Peoples Democratic Party following the decision of a former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, to lead a delegation of state party chairmen from the zone to hold secret talks with the PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus. It was gathered in Abuja on Friday that the meeting, held in the Abuja residence of Secondus on Monday, raised a lot of concerns among party members in the zone. State party chairmen who were at the meeting included those of Lagos, Ogun, Osun and Ekiti. Although the meeting was held behind closed doors, it was gathered that ongoing dispute over the control of the party structure by contending forces in the zone, especially in Ekiti State, formed the main crux of the meeting. A top-ranking party member of the party privy t...
Fuel subsidy removal: Nigerian government to distribute 2, 000 buses to mitigate effects on transportation
The Federal Government has concluded plans to distribute 2, 000 buses to cushion the effects of transportation on Nigerians, especially those living in rural dwellers. Newsmen report that Dr George Akume, Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, made this known on Friday at the interactive he had with stakeholders of cooperative societies in Nigeria at his office in Abuja. Akume explained that the initiative was a collaboration between his ministry, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other agencies in the government. He said the ministry took the decision to pass through the cooperative bodies to ensure the materialisation of the project, rather than giving out loans to individuals, which might delay quick execution of the project. “Basically we do recog...
Governor Lalong mourns AVM Paul Dimfwina
Simon Lalong of Plateau has condoled with the family of AVM Paul Dimfwina, Chief of Communication Information Systems (CCIS), Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Headquarters, describing his death as a big loss to Plateau and Nigeria. In a statement by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Dr Makut Macham, on Friday in Jos, Lalong described Dimfwina as a committed and dedicated air force officer who discharged his duties diligently . According to the statement, the condolence message was delivered by the Plateau State Liaison Officer in Abuja, Mr Pius Yenshi, to the family of the deceased. He urged the family to be consoled by the deceased’s record of excellence in service in the Air force, having served and commanded many formations successfully. The governor assured the family that the State wo...
INEC: Fire incident won’t affect Ondo election
Ahead of the October 10 gubernatorial election in Ondo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Friday in Abuja said despite the fire incident that destroyed Card Readers meant for the election, the governorship poll will still go ahead as planned. The commission has also said it is not contemplating postponing the September 19 Edo election. INEC National Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, stated this in Abuja during an interactive session with stakeholders and Civil Society Organizations, convened by the National Peace Committee. He said the 5100 Card Readers programmed for use for the election were razed in the inferno that on Thursday night, adding that investigation is on to unravel the cause of the fire. Yakubu said: “we received the sad news last night of fire inc...
Ondo INEC fire: l suspect foul play, our fate in God’s hand – PDP candidate
Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State, Eyitayo Jegede, says he suspected foul play in the mysterious fire that gutted the state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Over 5,100 card readers meant for the October 10 governorship election stored in a container were burnt in the inferno on Thursday night. In a statement by his campaign organization in Akure, Jegede said; “We cannot rule out a foul play in the mystery fire that completely razed down the state INEC office; now, our fate is in the hands of God. The Head, Media Research for the organisation, Mr Samuel Fasua, in the statement said, “For a while now, our main rival in this race has been in the eye of the storm over accusation that it was using loan assistance decoy to collect the pin code...
Police drag Kogi commissioner to court for ‘rape, battery’
Senior Police sources at the Force Intelligence Bureau, Force headquarters, under which the Police Gender Unit operates, on Tuesday affirmed that the Nigerian Police Force has charged the Kogi State Commissioner for Water Resources, Abdulmumuni Danga, to court for allegedly raping and assaulting a lady, among other charges, over a Facebook post. The lady, one Elizabeth Onyeniyi had petitioned the Police Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) on her ordeal in the hands of the Kogi Commissioner and other accomplices alleging that she was not only raped, but beaten mercilessly and threatened, prompting the FIB to invite Mr. Danga to appear before the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Gender Unit, for questioning on the 2nd of June 2020, after which the Commissioner was released. It was gathered that di...
PPPRA: Forex, uncertainty responsible for lack of fuel import by marketers
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, blamed foreign exchange challenges and prevailing uncertainty for the inability of oil marketers to resume fuel import. Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Executive Secretary of the PPPRA, Mr. Saidu Abdulkadir, explained that the Petroleum Products Marketing Company, PPMC, had been the one announcing the price of petrol over the last few months, because it was within its rights to do so, as one of the oil marketers and a major supplier of the commodity. Abdulkadir, who was represented by the General Manager, Administration, and Human Resources of the PPPRA, Mr. Victor Shidok, stated that because of the difficulties in accessing foreign exchange by oil marketers, the PPMC is currently the sole importer of the commodity into the country, and...
PDP: Nigerians can’t survive hike in fuel, electricity prices
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has told President Muhammadu Buhari that there is no way citizens can survive, what it described as the obnoxious hike in the cost of fuel and electricity, given the level of poverty his administration had allegedly already foisted on our nation. In a statement issued by Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary in Abuja on Tuesday, it observed that “the brazen attempt” by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, to justify the excessive hike in the cost of fuel from N87 per litre under the PDP to N162 as well as electricity from N30.23 per kWh to over N66kw/h, “as yet another daring and intolerable affront to the Nigerian citizenry, who have summarily rejected the increases.” The PDP said it stands with Nigerians in insisting t...
Court orders police to produce Bayelsa governorship candidate
The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, again ordered the police to produce Vijah Opuama, the Bayelsa Governorship Candidate in the Nov. 16, 2019 election. Newsmen report that Justice Taiwo Taiwo, on Aug. 3 and Sept. 2, ordered that Opuama, who was said to be in police custody, be produced in court but the orders were disregarded by the security outfit. Opuama’s Lawyer, Michael Odey, had, on Aug. 31, brought an ex-parte application before the court, asking the police to show cause why the detainee should not be released unconditionally. While the Inspector-General (I-G) of Police, Mr Adamu Mohammed, is the 1st respondent, the Assistant Commissioner of Police in-charge-of the I-G’s Monitoring Unit is the 2nd respondent in the suit. However, the judge, on Monday, issued the third order, ...
