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PRESIDENT Muhammed Buhari failed to meet up with his earlier promise of submitting list of nominees to the Senate before the end of September. The president had assured that the list containing the nominees into ministerial offices would be submitted to the Red Chamber latest by September 30,for onward screening and possible confirmation. But the Senate President, Bukola Saraki,who announces correspondences from the president at the beginning of plenary,before the consideration of any other items in the day’s business, could not announce any letter from the President during Tuesday’s session, indicating that there was no such list at his disposal. The development prompted the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP senators, through the Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, to seek clarification. Akpabio, PDP, Akwa Ibom North West, raised a point of order, under matter of urgent importance, to find out why the Senate President had not announced the president’s letter containing ministerial nomin

Former Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission NDCC, Timi Alaibe has withdrawn from the primary of the All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State. Alaibe in a statement issued in the early hours of Wednesday said the decision to withdraw from the contest was in the interest of the party especially as it face the task of the common challenge of unseating the PDP in the state come December 5 He said, “It is with all nostalgia that I recall the zeal, enthusiasm and hope with which thousands of Bayelsans made a statement in the direction of change in August, 2015. I can also vividly recall a mental replay of the occasion wherein a qualitative representation of the leadership of our great party, the All Progressives Congress ( APC) ushered in respected leaders and members from their then party, Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) . “That singular event has been phenomenal just as its true meaning and direction have all exuded confidence, unity of purpose, cohesion, collecti

President of the General Assembly, Secretary–General Your Excellencies Heads of State and Governments Distinguished Delegates Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like, Mr. President, on behalf of the Government and people of Nigeria, to congratulate you and your country on your election to preside over the 70th session of the U.N. General Assembly. 2. May I also express appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Sam Kahamba Kutesa and the Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon both of whom worked tirelessly to ensure proper articulation of the post-2015 Development Agenda and to maintain the focus and commitment to the ideals of the United Nations. I thank Mr. Ban Ki-moon for his recent visit to Nigeria when we held very useful discussions. Mr. President, 3. Fifty-five (55) years ago almost to the day, my great predecessor, Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa stood on this forum to declare Nigeria’s desire to develop and maintain friendly relations with all countries

The delay in the arrival of foreign doctors, said to be waiting for clearance from relevant medical associations in Nigeria and work permit from the nation’s immigration service, is the main reason the 20th Anniversary Hospital in Akwa Ibom state is yet to start operation. A former governor of the state, Godswill Akpabio, made the disclosure while speaking at the 28th anniversary celebration of the state. Mr. Akpabio, minority leader of the Nigerian senate, said the ‘processes’ would be completed in “less than one month”. Mr. Akpabio had boasted close to the end of his reign that the N30 billion hospital built by his administration was ‘world-class’ in standard and higher in status than a teaching hospital. “We lose billions of dollars every year to medical trips abroad. We have also lost a lot of people, not because we don’t have the expertise in the country,” Mr. Akpabio said during the commissioning of the hospital. The former governor however stirred controversy recently when

President Muhammadu Buhari and his delegation were not present at a United Nation’s meeting to discuss and proffer solution to the problems of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The United Nations, Chad, Niger and Cameroon appealed on Friday for help for millions of people in the Lake Chad Basin region forced to flee the violence of Boko Haram and hit with repeated droughts and floods that have brought malnutrition and disease. US and European Union diplomats said they were disappointed that Nigeria did not attend the event chaired by United Nations aid chief Stephen O’Brien on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Buhari Explains Why He Missed A Meeting On Boko Haram At The UN. Contrary to the erroneous impression that may have been created by reports that the Nigerian delegation to the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly missed a meeting on help for displaced persons, President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration remain fully committed to the rehabili

The Swiss attorney general has announced criminal proceedings have been opened against outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter. The Swiss attorney general's office issued a statement saying Blatter is suspected of criminal mismanagement or misappropriation over a TV rights deal he signed with former Caribbean football chief Jack Warner in 2005. The 79-year-old is also suspected of 'a disloyal payment' of two million Swiss francs (£1.3 million) to UEFA president Michel Platini - who is the favourite to succeed him - in 2011. French football legend, Platini, claims the money was paid for work he carried out under contract for the world football's governing body. Under Swiss law, a payment is classified disloyal if it is against the best interests of the employer - in this case FIFA. A statement from the Swiss attorney general reads: 'Swiss criminal proceedings against the President of FIFA, Mr. Joseph Blatter, have been opened on 24 September 2015 on suspicion o

Suspected members of dreaded Boko Haram terrorists invaded three communities of Sabon Gari, Kafin Hausa and Bakin Dutse of Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State, leaving scores of people mostly returning farmers and herdsmen dead after setting ablaze their residential houses. The attacks were said to have lasted for three days and over 50 houses burnt. Madagali is the council headquarters of Gulak, a town bordering Borno State which had suffered series of deadly boko Haram attacks that led to the sacking of the whole people of the area. According to a unanimous police officer from the area but who is based in Maiduguri, “Our family house was one of those destroyed by the terrorists, but when some people alerted the security operatives stationed in Gulak and Madagali, there was no response until the whole place was destroyed by the insurgents. “My distressed people called me about the deadly attacks that lasted for three days beginning from Wednesday, but no positive resp

The former Secretary to Government of the Federation, Olu Falae, has revealed that six Fulani herdsmen kidnapped him on Monday and made him trek 30km from Ilado where he was taken, to Owo. He also said he was made to sleep in the bush for three days as the kidnappers changed their locations every four hours. President Muhammadu Buhari had on Wednesday directed the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, to ensure the rescue of the former minister. While speaking with Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who paid him a visit at his residence in Obaile, Mr. Falae said he believed the herdsmen were working for Boko Haram. The Afenifere chieftain said he was made to sleep on the bare floor throughout his stay with his captors. A family source, who said he was present when Mr. Falae explained his ordeal, said he was not certain if ransom was paid. “Baba has just narrated his ordeal to some of us. His abductors made him to trek from his farm to Owo. Baba also said he was sleeping on the ‎gro

The Nigerian Army on Friday raised alarm over plans by “some highly-placed individuals” in the North East, particularly Borno State, to sabotage military operations in the region. A statement by the army spokesman, Sani Usman, said the elite were bent on having the activities of the Boko Haram terrorists prolonged for their selfish interests. Mr. Usman, a colonel, did not however state in clear terms the means through which the notable individuals were undermining the war against terrorism or how they would benefit from the insurgency when prolonged. “The Nigerian Army wishes to inform the public and send a very strong and serious final warning to some prominent individuals and political groups who hailed from Borno State in particular and North East generally, that there is information of plans by some highly placed individuals and political groups to undermine and scuttle the fight against terrorism and insurgency in this country. “The unscrupulous individuals and their cohorts

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you to this important event. Let me express Nigeria's sincere appreciation to UN-AIDS for the support and collaboration in organizing this event. 2. We are on the threshold of history as world leaders adopt the successor development agenda to the Millennium Development Goals. For over 30 years, HIV as a public health challenge has been causing havoc and untold hardship in virtually every part of the world. To date, several million children have been orphaned and some communities have been devastated, while economic activities have been disrupted. 3. Unfortunately, Sub -Saharan Africa bears a disproportionate burden of this epidemic. The good news is that the effort of the global community has resulted in greater control, less spread and better management. 4. Furthermore, we have made significant progress towards the interception of mother to child transmission of HIV. In 2014 alone, over 3million pregnant women were tested for HIV

Immediate past Akwa Ibom State Governor and current Minority Leader in the 8th Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has made his first public appearance since returning to the country after flying abroad for medical treatment following the accident he sustained on Tuesday, September 1, 2015. Speaking at the launching of #Dakkada, the new campaign initiated by his successor, Governor Udom Emmanuel to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the state, Akpabio spoke on his ordeal and the invasion of the Akwa Ibom Government House by officials of the Department of State Services. Akpabio also took time to hail the achievements of the young administration of Governor Emmanuel, who he said he is proud to have as a successor. Read a full text of his speech below: Akwa Ibom isongo (4 times), nto (children of) Udom Emmanuel isongo, iban (women of) Udom Emmanuel isongo, ntokeyen (kids of) Udom Emmanuel isongo, ikpo owo Akwa Ibom mmino uyio ooo. Aying ami ade (my name is) Godswill Obot Akpabio.

The New King of the Phantom Line Tenco Phantom 5 has no doubt dethroned the Phantom Z as the new king of the prestigious Phantom range with its impressive lineup of specs. The Tecno Phantom 5 offers premium design and performance at a more affordable mid-range price. The smartphone comes with a metallic finish and is super slim at just 6.8 mm. Tecno Phantom 5 will be available in Champagne Gold and Space Grey. The Display Tecno is putting a bigger screen on the Phantom 5. The screen is moving from a 5.2-inch display to a 5.5-inch display, which offers more real estate for your content making it great for watching movies, playing games, and browsing the web. However, it still retains the 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution of its predecessor, which at 400 pixels per inch is still very impressive and should offer a solid viewing experience. The Cameras Tecno Phantom 5 seems to be getting a down-grade in the camera department. While the Phantom Z offered a 16 megapixels camera, the

At least 310 pilgrims were killed on Thursday in a crush at Mina, outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca, where some two million people are performing the annual hajj pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia's civil defence authority said. At least 450 others were injured in the crush, which took place on Street 204 of the camp city at Mina, a few miles east of Mecca, where pilgrims stay for several days during the climax of the hajj.The pilgrimage, one of the world's largest annual gathering of people, has been the scene of deadly disasters in the past, including stampedes, tent fires and riots. "The counting (of the victims) continues and the number of dead has reached 310 people of different nationalities," it said on Twitter after the incident. An Arab pilgrim who did not want to give his name said he had hoped to perform the stoning ritual later on Thursday afternoon but was now too frightened to risk doing so. "I am very tired already and after this I can't go. I w

The Muslim Eid al-Adha prayers in Ilorin, capital of Kwara state were this morning disrupted as the country’s embattled Senate president, Bukola Saraki was pelted with stones and pure water sachets as he arrived in his car convoy. The chaos caused by the stoning of the senate president who has been charged with 13 counts of corruption and false asset declaration, caused the prayers to be disrupted with the loud speakers not calling the prayers and several thousands of faithfuls unable to say the prayers. People were gathered to patiently stone him after the prayers. NewsRescue reporters saw stones flying into the sky. The Senate president was reportedly disguised or covered up and whisked out of the grounds to save him from the anger of the crowds. This was the first Eid Saraki was attending as senate president.Kwara state has been slavishly under the control of Saraki and his late father for decades.

Former Kwara State governor and now senator representing Kwara Central, Dr. Bukola Saraki, was guest of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) earlier this week. According to reports, he was quizzed for many hours, and later allowed to go home. What questions did Saraki have to answer? His role in the collapsed Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria, where he was an Executive Director, and where depositors lost money in billions. Again, he was said to have been grilled on how he managed the finances of Kwara State as a two-term governor. Naturally, the fact that Saraki was quizzed by the EFCC should not have raised any dust. If he did things that demanded explanations while he held those two former positions, then he should be grilled. No one is above the law, and the fact that he is being questioned does not tantamount to automatic guilt. But there is this buzz going round about Saraki and his role in the fuel subsidy payments saga. Last year, he had raised a motion

Two crew members working on the set of Tom Cruise's latest film Mena were killed after a plane they were travelling in crashed in Colombia. Two pilots along with crew members were in the small twin-engine aircraft when it came down in bad weather near Medellin. The plane was being used during shooting to transport crew members between locations and the local airport.Hollywood actor Tom had finished filming earlier that day and wasn’t on board, according to TMZ. “An aircraft carrying crew members crashed while returning to Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellin following production wrap on the film Mena resulting in two fatalities," a spokesperson for Mena's distributor Universal Pictures told Mirror Celebs. "Further details are not available at this time. On behalf of the production, our hearts and prayers go out to the crew members and their families at this difficult time.” The film, directed by Doug Liman who was behind Mr and Mrs Smith and The Bourne Id

A student stabbed his friend in a jealous rage during a drunken threesome before jumping to his death from a window, according to a newly-released police report.Yale University students Tyler Carlisle and Alexander Michaud were having sex with a female student when things took a dramatic and violent turn. Carlisle, 21, became jealous that his pal was getting more attention and grabbed a knife from a nearby nightstand and plunged it into Michaud's neck, the Daily News reported. After police were called, Carlisle threatened to jump from the ninth-floor window before plunging to his death, according to the New Haven police report obtained by Gawker. The report sheds new light on the horrific attack, which took place in an off-campus apartment on May 26 this year. Michaud, now 22, was treated in hospital for a puncture wound to the throat.The female - who has not been named - was unhurt in the incident.Michaud, from Manchester, New Hampshire, told police he remebered finding himse

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has formally separated from his wife, according to reports. Wenger and his long-term partner Annie had a 'separation of bodies' judgment issued by a judge in Paris, meaning that they are free to see other people. Wenger is still expected to support Annie financially, The Sun reported. A source told the newspaper: 'They have divided up their assets and agreed a financial package to separate. 'They have not been happy for a while, and they decided this was the best course of action to take.' The judgment - which apparently shows that the pair have been living separately for several months - falls short of a complete divorce but legally states that they are no longer together. At the time, she told the Mail: 'I am not a good time girl. I don't go to the discotheque looking for footballers. I don't care about being famous. I don't want to be recognised in the street. 'I am not doing this for money. We were in love.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan was among the dignitaries who visited the Ikenne country home of the Awolowos to pay tributes to their matriarch, Hannah Idowu Dideolu, who passed on last Saturday. He arrived the Ikenne home of the Awolowos at exactly 1.17pm in company with his wife, Patience, and a former leader in the House of Representatives, Mrs. Mulikat Adeola, and a former chairman of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, Jide Adeniji. Jonathan said the death of HID Awolowo forced him and his wife out of their ‘hiding’ place, since he said he had resolved not to go out for one year, after leaving office. Condoling with the family, the former President noted that HID Awolowo enjoyed a rare privilege by living extra 29 years, when compared to the biblical prescription of three scores and 10. He further described her as a rare mother, whose milk of kindness, milk of encouragement,milk of advice Nigerians still need. He said, “My wife and I are not mourning because Mama has p

THE immediate past governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has dragged the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, its Chairman, Chief Felix Obuah, and two others to an Abuja High Court over allegations that he embezzled $757m (N80bn) belonging to the state while in office. In what appears to be a fight back by the former governor, Amaechi said in a statement he issued on Tuesday that he had also sued the state PDP and two others for alleging that he (Amaechi) operated a private foreign account where he lodged the said public funds. Although the former governor did not identify the two other persons he joined in his suit, Amaechi said the allegation had done a lot of harm to his personand reputation, and he demanded N300 billion as damages. Amaechi recalled that the state PDP on August 6, and August 21, 2015, alleged that he stole the sum of $757 million or N80 billion of Rivers money and stashed them away in an account in his name in Bancorp Bank in Minnesota, United State of

In comments likely to enhance his progressive reputation, Pope Francis has written a long, open letter to the founder of La Repubblica newspaper, Eugenio Scalfari, stating that non-believers would be forgiven by God if they followed their consciences. Responding to a list of questions published in the paper by Mr Scalfari, who is not a Roman Catholic, Francis wrote: “You ask me if the God of the Christians forgives those who don’t believe and who don’t seek the faith. I start by saying – and this is the fundamental thing – that God’s mercy has no limits if you go to him with a sincere and contrite heart. The issue for those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience. “Sin, even for those who have no faith, exists when people disobey their conscience.” Robert Mickens, the Vatican correspondent for the Catholic journal The Tablet, said the pontiff’s comments were further evidence of his attempts to shake off the Catholic Church’s fusty image, reinforced by his extremely c

The former Akwa Ibom state governor now Senator returned to Nigeria from the UK where he had gone for medical treatment after surviving a car crash in Abuja last month.

Okonjo-Iweala Named To Two Key International Positions. *Elected Chair of the Board of Gavi, a $12 Billion Multilateral Public-Private Partnership on Vaccines *Appointed Senior Advisor, Lazard Investment Bank *Ex Minister Thanks Nigerians and International Community for Support Former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has accepted two key international positions. The first is to serve as Chair of the 28-member Board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, GAVI, ( http:// www.gavi.org /about/ ), an international public-private partnership committed to saving the lives of children and protecting people’s health by improving access to immunization in developing countries, including Nigeria. Dr Okonjo-Iweala was elected to the position after a competitive international search process. GAVI is a $12 billion multilateral partnership which disburses grants of upwards of $1.8 billion annually to developing countries for i

AGayle Newland masterminded the bizarre relationship, ordering her victim to wear a blindfold and scarf during a five month period of intercourse, a jury heard  woman tearfully told a court the moment she discovered her 'boyfriend' was a female friend using a fake penis when they had  sex. Gayle Newland masterminded the bizarre relationship, ordering her victim to wear a blindfold and scarf during a five month period of intercourse, a  jury heard. The 25-year-old wore a swimming costume, wrapped her body in bandages and put a woolly hat on during their love trysts to keep up the disguise, it is alleged. Newland, of Willaston, Cheshire, allegedly explained her high-pitched voice was because of her half-Philippine and half-Asian heritage. She denies five counts of sexual assault by penetration, and insists the woman knew she was a woman and they were playing along to a consensual fantasy. Liverpool Echo Accused: Gayle Newland leaves Chester Crown Court Newland, who said h