Appeal Court uphold Governor Duoye Diri’s election as Bayelsa state governor

Friday, October 02, 2020 NEWS No Comments

A five-man panel of the Appeal Court sitting in Abuja has overturned a ruling by the Bayelsa state election tribunal which nullified the election of Douye Diri as governor of Bayelsa State.

The three-member panel of the tribunal had on August 17, ruled that the November 16, 2019 election that saw Diri emerge as governor of the state was unlawful due to the exclusion of Action Nigeria Democratic Party (ADP) and its candidate, King George from the election. Read here.

In a unanimous judgment delivered this morning, the five-man panel of the Appellate court ruled that the tribunal acted outside its jurisdiction by nullifying the election of Governor Diri. The court also ruled that the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party failed woefully to show that it had a valid candidate that was unlawfully excluded by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The court berated the tribunal for ignoring the fact that the petition of ANDP was status barred in addition to the fact that the party presented an unqualified candidate to INEC in the November 16, 2019 Governorship election in Bayelsa State.

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10 suspected internet fraudsters arrested in Oyo (photo)

Friday, October 02, 2020 NEWS No Comments

No fewer than ten suspected internet fraudsters have been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

 

According to a statement released by the spokesperson of the antigraft agency, Wilson Uwujaren, the suspects who were identified as Isaac Ogundayo; David Ayodele; Etiowe Kelvin; Seun Afolabi; Saheed Olalekan; Oluwatobi Damilola; Sukanmi Odofin; Ademola Okunola; Joseph Damilare and Abass Sodiq, were arrested in their hideout at Ajinde Road 4, off Akala-Expressway, Ibadan in the early hours of today Friday, October 2 by men of the Commission from the Ibadan Zonal Office.

 

Uwujaren said the arrest of the suspects followed credible intelligence and many weeks of surveillance on the location.

 

He added several fraudulent documents and other instruments of fraud were recovered from the suspects at the point of the arrest.

“They will be charged to court as soon as investigations are completed,” he stated.

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Inter Milan striker, Romelu Lukaku beats Bruno Fernandes to the Europa League Player of the Season award

Friday, October 02, 2020 NEWS No Comments

 

Inter Milan striker, Romelu Lukaku has won the Europa League Player of the Season award. 

 

The Belgian striker, 27, who scored seven goals in just five matches for Inter, and his team to the final where they were beaten by Sevilla in Cologne, beat off competition from Manchester United midfielder, Bruno Fernandes.  

 

Speaking after receiving his award, Lukaku said: 'I want to thank my mum, my brother, my agents, RocNation for supporting me. 

 

'I want to thank Antonio Conte and his staff for their trust and for helping me. Most importantly I want to thank my team-mates. They've been like brothers to me from day one. 

 

'Every day I come into training with a smile on my face. I hope this year we're going to do much better than last year and have lots of success.'

 

'Romelu Lukaku joined Inter Milan from Manchester United in 2019 for a fee reported to be a club record €80 million.

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SSANU and NASU announce plans to begin 14 days nationwide warning strike

Friday, October 02, 2020 NEWS No Comments

 

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities(SSANU) and the Non- Academic Staff Union(NASU) have announced plans to embark on a 2-weeks warning strike beginning from Monday, October 5.

The two groups jointly declared plans to embark on the industrial action after a meeting of its Joint Action Committee(JAC) today Friday, October 2.

 

Addressing newsmen shortly after their joint congress held at the University of Lagos(Akoka), the chairmen of SSANU and NASU of UNILAG branch, Olusola Sowunmi, and Kehinde Ajibade, said the strike is general and involve all public universities in the country.

 

They said the action is a directive from the national leadership of the two unions to all their branches nationwide. According to them, the associations decided to embark on the strike so as to press home their demands on contentious issues from the federal government.

 

They listed them to include non-payment of arrears of their national minimum wage for 10 months, inconsistency in the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System(IPPIS), non-payment of arrears of their earned allowance since 2012, non-showing of seriousness in renegotiating their 2009 agreement, neglect and poor funding of state universities, corruption and non-constitution of visitation panels as well as a usurpation of headship in non-academic matters by the academic staff as the contentious issues.

The associations warned that they will proceed on a total strike should the Federal government fails to address all their issues while their warning strike lasts.

 

The associations say all their members had been mobilized for compliance with the directive.

 

This development comes amidst the 7-month old strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU which is still ongoing.

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Arsenal to play Man City in Carabao Cup quarter-finals

Friday, October 02, 2020 SPORT No Comments

 Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta will face his former mentor and boss Pep Guardiola after Arsenal were drawn against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, following a penalty shootout win over Liverpool on Thursday night.

Arsenal manager Arteta spent three seasons as assistant to Guardiola before joining Arsenal last December

Arsenal beat Liverpool on Thursday night, while Manchester City beat Burnley 3-0 .

"I was enjoying the victory in the dressing room and I got the news," Arteta said in his post-match press conference.

"Another massive challenge for us but we're not getting very lucky with the draws at the moment. But we'll prepare [for] the game and try to win, of course."

In other match pairings, Manchester United will travel to Everton, Tottenham will face Stoke City while Brentford will host Newcastle United 

The quarter-final ties will be contested over one leg on the week commencing December 21.

The 2021 Carabao Cup final is scheduled to be played at Wembley Stadium on February 28, 2021.

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N107bn was stolen in previous administration - Governor Matawalle alleges

Friday, October 02, 2020 NEWS No Comments

Governor Bello Matawalle has alleged N107 billion was stolen from Zamfara state treasury in a previous administration in the state. 

 Matawalle who made the allegation in a tweet shared on Thursday October 1, said a committee set up to probe financial mismanagement in the state made the discovery.

Though he wasn't specific on the admistration, the Zamfara state Governor however added that he will ensure that the stolen money is recovered. 

The tweet read; 

Yesterday, I received the final report of Alhaji Ahmad Zabarma led committee on mismanagement of public finances & procurement processes. A whopping sum of N107 billion was stolen from state coffers by previous administration. We will recover these embezzled funds!

 

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President Trump and Melania test positive for Coronavirus

Friday, October 02, 2020 NEWS No Comments

 

President Donald Trump has announced that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for Coronavirus. 

 

The announcement came after Hope Hicks, one of the president’s closest senior advisers tested positive for the virus on Thursday October 1. This made her the highest-profile member of the administration who is in frequent contact with Trump and other top officials to contract the virus. 

 

In a tweet shared on Friday morning, Trump wrote;

 

Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!

 

 

Trump was last seen in public on Thursday afternoon returning to the White House after a fundraising trip to New Jersey. He did not appear ill, though did not speak to reporters as he walked into his residence.

 

In a memo issued to reporters around 1 a.m. ET, the President's physician, Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley, wrote he received confirmation of the positive tests on Thursday evening.

 

Conley said; 

 

“The president and first lady are both well at this time, and they plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence.

“Rest assured I expect the president to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering, and I will keep you updated on any future developments.”

 

After announcing the President's diagnosis, the White House issued a new schedule to reflect several canceled events, including a fundraiser in Washington and a campaign rally in Florida.

 

Mr. Trump has refused for months to wear a mask in public on all but a few occasions and repeatedly questioned their effectiveness while mocking Mr. Biden for wearing one. Trailing in the polls, the president in recent weeks increasingly held crowded campaign events in defiance of public health guidelines and sometimes state and local governments.

 

As of October 1, more than 7 million cases have been confirmed in the U.S. There have been more than 205,000 deaths.

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Independence speech: President provided no solution to Nigeria’s problems — PANDEF

Friday, October 02, 2020 NEWS No Comments

 

The Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, has expressed disappointment that President Muhammadu Buhari did not provide solutions to Nigeria’s problems in his 60th independence speech presented to Nigerians.

National Chairman of PANDEF and former military administrator of Akwa Ibom State, Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga made the assertion yesterday in Uyo.

Nkanga said that the forum had expected that the president would have said far-reaching things to show that his administration was actually determined to change the status quo in issues such as the lopsided appointments and employments, and hike in electricity tariff.

He stressed that the forum would continue to advocate for justice, and good governance in the country, stressing that as long as there is no justice those things would continue.

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