GUBER WAR: Ikpeazu, Otti ground Abia

THE recent Court of Appeal judgment which sacked Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of the PDP and declared Dr. Alex Otti of APGA winner of the April 2015 governorship election may have altered the political equation of Abia State.

By Anayo Okoli
Though the matter is still pending at the Supreme Court, Abia politics will never again be the same, where only one political party holds sway and dictates the pace with impunity. 2015 elections, where the ruling PDP faced uphill task to win votes was a pointer to that.

CBN assures Dangote of Forex to finance $14bn refinery

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given assurance to Dangote Group that it will support it access Foreign Exchange, Forex to build its proposed $14 billion refinery in the country.

Aliko Dangote andCBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele

Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the CBN, said this during a tour of the refinery which is projected to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

The tour of the facility held at its location within the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.
The CBN governor said that the support was to ease the importation of equipment needed to bring the Dangote refinery to reality.

Biafra agitation an error – Obasanjo

Erstwhile President, Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday enjoined Nigerians not to support the struggle for the actualisation of the sovereign state of Biafra, stressing that the idea was conceived in error.
He stated this while delivering his keynote address at a public discussion on Biafra organised by Nextier Advisory in Abuja on Friday.

Obasanjo said, “Biafra as a secession issue is dead, and nobody should follow that way. I see it as a platform rather than a cause.”

I have learnt not to look down on a fellow mortal, except I’m admiring his shoes — Jonathan

Remarks by His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference,
Atlanta, on Thursday 14th, January, 2016.
Protocols
I thank the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, for inviting and honoring me today, and especially so, as this invitation comes right about the period when the world stands still in recognition of the selfless sacrifice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

When we think of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), it is virtually impossible to separate this worthy body from its founder, the late great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, or from epoch making landmark events of the American Civil Rights movement.

I am pleased to know that the Southern Christian Leadership Conference is not just one of the great American institutions, it is also one of her more potent vehicles for the advancement of liberty and freedom for all God’s people. For that, I also commend Charles Steele for his leadership and commitment to peace and justice nationally and globally.

Diversion of arms funds, heartless – Aregbesola

• Commends President Buhari for unravelling the arms scandal

The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has on Friday described the diversion of money meant for procuring arms for Nigeria soldiers to fight insurgency as a monumental scandal.

The Governor stated this at the 2016 Armed Forces Remembrance Day and laying of wreath in honour of fallen Soldiers held at the State House of Assembly in Osogbo.

He commended  the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari in unravelling the crime.

He insisted all the guilty must be brought to justice to forestall future occurrence.

This year’s Armed Forces Remembrance is the first to be held at the State House of Assembly after the cenotaph was constructed next to the parliament.

Armed Forces Remembrance Day: Buhari Asks Forces To Win War On Terror

 

President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the Nigerian Armed Forces to ensure that they win the war against Boko Haram in the nation’s northeast.
The President made the demand at the National Arcade on Friday via digital devices and live streaming equipment improvised by the Nigerian Army to enable him chat with soldiers in the northeast, as the military marks the Armed Forces Remembrance Day.

The event is used to honour the veterans who are alive as well as the families of the departed. It also featured inspection of Guard of Honour as mounted by the Guards Brigade.
Other government officials who joined the President in the laying of wreaths were Vice President Yemi Osibajo, Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu  Dogara.

Court orders Metuh’s remand in Kuje prison

Justice Abang Okon of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Friday refused hearing on the bail application being sought by the embattled National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, ordering him to be remanded at the Kuje prison pending next Tuesday (January 19) when the hearing will be entertained.

Metuh is being arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a seven count charge of corruption, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Thereafter, his lawyer, Ifedayo Adedipe, filed an oral application for bail which was opposed by the prosecuting counsel.

Supreme Court Upholds Samuel Ortom’s Election

The Supreme Court on Friday, January 15, upheld the election of Samuel Ortom as governor of Benue state, NAN reports.

Supreme Court has uphold the election of Samuel Ortom as governor of Benue state.

The apex court judgment comes a few months after the Court of Appeal sitting in Makurdi, on November 18, 2015, upheld the verdict of the election petition tribunal which affirmed the qualification and election of Ortom as the state governor.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Terhemen Tarzoor, had asked the court to reverse the tribunal’s judgement and declare him winner of the April governorship election in the state. He argued that the tribunal erred in its judgment insisting that Ortom was not qualified to run in the election.
Tarzoor filed a petition before the tribunal challenging the qualification of Ortom to contest the April 11, 2015 governorship election in the state but the Justice Elizabeth Karatu-led tribunal, on the September  21, 2015, dismissed the petition, claiming that the petitioner failed to seek as one of its reliefs the conduct of a fresh election.

 

The fight against corruption may have entered a new level as the President has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to further investigate alleged misconduct established against some retired and serving officers of the Nigerian Air Force and Nigerian Army.

According to a statement by the President’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, this directive by President Muhammadu Buhari follows the recommendation of the committee established to audit the procurement of arms and equipment in the armed forces and defence sector from 2007 to 2015.
The officers indicted are former Chief of Defence Staff, Retired Air Chief Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh; Former Chief of Air Staff, Retired Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar, and former Chief of Air Staff, Retired Air Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu.

50 yrs after January 15 1966 coup: When soldiers touched the tail of the tiger

THE military exercise was codenamed Exercise Damisa, a word drawn from the Hausa word for tiger, the largest animal in the cat family. The leader of the operation in the north was Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu whose middle name means crocodile, the aquatic foe of many tigers.

Remarkably, when Exercise Damisa fully unfolded into its real intentions in the wee hours of January 15, 1966, it left in its trail the flow of blood that can be imagined when a hungry crocodile grasps the tail of the tiger.

Hungry crocodile

Major C.K Nzeogwu…”One of the three commanders nominated for the execution of the plan”

Exercise Damisa was the cover in  the North for the first military coup staged in Nigeria. While the coup in the north with epicentre in Kaduna was largely successful despite the aversions of one Lt. Col.  Chukwuemeka Ojukwu who held sway as commanding officer of the brigade in Kano, the operation failed in the rest of the country.

Wizkid Announces World Tour

Popular musician, Ayodeji Balogun, a.k.a, Wizkid, on Wednesday said he would soon kick-off his musical world tour from Amsterdam. The `Ojuelegba’ crooner who did not disclose the date of the tour also said that his highly anticipated third studio album would be ready soon too. “About to catch a flight to where I wanna be; first holiday in 3years.

The One Lagos Fiesta: A Post Script

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (2nd left), with Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa; International Music Act, Dapo Oyebanji popularly known as Dbanj and Minister for Information & Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, during the flag off of the One Lagos Fiesta, at the Agege Mini Stadium, Agege, Lagos, during the One Lagos Fiesta 2015.

Kim Kardashian’s former boo, Ray J is engaged to girlfriend Princess Love

Ray J and Princess Love have been dating for over a year but have split several times. Photo: Getty Images

American singer, Ray J is engaged to his girlfriend Princess Love. The 35-year-old singer shocked his boo when he reportedly proposed to her on the airport runway in front of their private jet on Boxing Day, December 26, 2015.

The couple has been dating for over a year but have split several times. In February last year, Princess was charged with domestic abuse and battery after she allegedly went ‘ballistic’ at Ray, before leaving him with several cracked ribs, a split lip, and a torn ligament in his knee in New Orleans on Wednesday, February 11, 2015.

René Angélil: The man behind Céline Dion

René Angélil, the one-time pop singer who became an impresario and turned Celine Dion into an international megastar, then married her, has died.

One of Quebec’s best-known and most powerful entertainment figures, Mr. Angélil was suffering from throat cancer. He was two days shy of his 74th birthday.

Céline Dion's husband and manager, René Angélil, dies at 73 (CP Video)

He had been on a feeding tube for two years, had made his funeral arrangements and said he wanted to die in his wife’s arms.

Davido again! fires artiste

LESS than a week after he ended his feud with his babymama, Sophia Momodu, pop star Davido is making headlines again.

This time, it’s no longer about his babymama, rather it is about the hit maker firing his Ghanaian born act, Deekay. He announced on his Twitter handle about his plans to sign a new artiste to his label.

HNK boss wrote, “ Can’t wait to show the world my new artist .. and if they ever do Headies again.. and he doesn’t win next rated artiste pull worse than a Kanye”