55th Independence Anniversary: PDP calls for patriotism, respect for Buhari

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged Nigerians to use the occasion of the nation’s 55th Independence Anniversary to rekindle the spirit of patriotism, while exhibiting actions that promote democratic ideals and peaceful co-existence at all levels in the country.

The party said the occasion reminds of Nigeria’s common root and destiny as well as her resilience and determination to succeed in all spheres of life as a strong, united and prosperous nation, irrespective of her challenges.

The PDP, in a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh on Wednesday, congratulated the citizenry for keeping faith in the Nigerian project and working together in building a strong nation and one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

The party however urged Nigerians to use the anniversary to recommit to respecting their leaders at the local government, state and national levels, while paying adequate reverence to national symbols and institutions.

“In this regard, the PDP urges all citizens to have full respect for the office and person of the symbol of the leadership of our great country, the President. The President can be constructively criticized, but under no circumstance should he be abused or insulted in any way and under any guise whatsoever.

“On this note therefore, we expect those around our dear President to be cautious and desist from actions and utterances that tend to set him up for public ridicule”, the party stressed.

The party congratulated the nation for giants strides achieved since independence, especially within the 16 years under the PDP led-administration, during which enviable milestones were recorded in critical sectors of the polity.

It assured that even in opposition, it would continue to ensure that the country is not dragged back to the dark years of dictatorship by firmly defending the tenets of democracy and provisions of the constitution.

The party insisted that the feat achieved through the successful conduct of 2015 general elections and the smooth transition, all resulting from the democratic disposition of PDP leaders, must be sustained, as the country cannot afford to degenerate from its globally acclaimed democratic credentials.

It also commended the military for the success recorded in the fight against insurgency in the country even as it commiserated with all those affected by the senseless acts of terrorism and violence. It also charged those behind the bloodletting to have a rethink and understand that their actions cannot be justified under any guise.

The leadership of the PDP prayed for abiding peace in the country and wished the government and people of Nigeria, happy independence celebrations.

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Photo: See how BRT bus sweeper caused commotion in Lagos today

While growing up, we were told never to sweep the house whenever a guest is around. We were also told that doing so was improper, as it signifies that the guest is not welcomed or had overstayed his or her welcome.

However, on Wednesday afternoon, an Igbogbo/Ikorodu – Maryland-bound BRT bus was thrown into commotion, as a female personnel of the LAGBUS (name and code number withheld), dramatically swept the bus with passengers on board.

This ill-mannered action almost resulted into a fracas when the bus got to the Zumratul junction, Igbogbo, Ikorodu, Lagos, as many of the passengers protested the apparent untidiness of the bus.

See photo:

The LAGBUS sweeper in action: Pix by Bose Adelaja

Girl strips naked in public after boyfriend refuses to buy her iPhone 6s (photos)

A Chinese woman stripped completely naked at a shopping centre after her boyfriend refused to buy her an iPhone 6s. The woman, whose identity was not revealed, began by exchanging words with her boyfriend and after reportedly failing to persuade him to buy her the latest gadget, the woman removed her clothes and threw them on the floor in front of hundreds of other shoppers.

The boyfriend didn't even attempt to stop her and walked away as soon as she stripped naked. The video of the incident which was posted online a few days ago ends with the naked woman following the boyfriend as she pushed him several times. Another photo after the cut...

Senate ends sitting without ministerial list

The senate has ended its sitting today without the much-awaited ministerial list. The senators deliberated on Nigeria at 55 and afterwards adjourned sitting to a new legislative date. Buhari had promised to release the ministerial list before the end of this month. The month ended today

Tompolo’s pipeline security contract still intact – NIMASA DG

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has debunked reports that President Muhammadu Buhari has terminated the federal government’s pipeline security deal with Global West Vessels Specialists Limited (GWVSL), a company said to belong to former Niger-Delta war-lord, Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo).

NIMASA: Tompolo’s pipeline security contract intact

Giving the high incidences of pipeline vandalisation in parts of the country, it could be recalled that the purported $103 million (N21 billion) maritime security contract was approved by former President Goodluck Jonathan and awarded by NIMASA in 2011, shortly after the former Director-General of NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi, was appointed to head the agency.

But in a sharp clarification, the Director-General of NIMASA, Mr. Haruna Jauro, on Tuesday, during a courtesy visit to the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, at Naval Headquarters, Abuja, refuted reports reports that the maritime security deal was terminated, pointing that it did not in any way encroach on the constitutional duties of the Nigerian Navy to protect the nation’s maritime coast.

Jauro, while fielding questions from journalists, stated that the agreement between the NIMASA and Global West does not overlaps the statutory responsibilities of the Nigerian Navy.

He was emphatic that the contract with Global West was not an attempt by the agency to hijack the functions of the Navy.

He said: “It does not. Yes, it does not because the Navy is one of its kind and no one is willing to go there and take anything from them.

“What Global West is doing is just to help NIMASA to look a the issue of that takes place in the waters, to push them back and I think we have done our best with them. So far the level of piracy has reduced in the Lagos area.

“We don’t have much reports of them again and they have been pushed towards the Delta area and we have been following them. And I think Global West has been instrumental to that so far. It (the contract) is supposed to be for ten years. It has run for three years.”

The NIMASA DG further explained that the contract with Tompolo’s firm was designed for a 10-year period, disclosing however, that the deal had been running for three years, of the 10-year period covered by the contractual agreement.

According to Jauro, the firm which was mandated to provide platform to NIMASA to fight the scourge of piracy in the nation’s territorial waters, “have been able to reduce drastically, the scourge of piracy in the Lagos area.”

In a related development, Isichie Osangbi, Deputy Director of Public relations for NIMASA, has denied receiving any directive from the presidency to discontinue payment to Global West Vessel Specialists Nigeria Limited (GWVSNL) for the provision of platforms for security of the nation’s waterways, which is owned by the ex-militant leader.

“NIMASA is a government agency and would always implement government policy or reform in the maritime sector and not to be seen doing the opposite. Also, as a government agency, NIMASA ought to be in the know if there was any such directive or change in policy, since the alleged directive, according to those peddling the rumour, was meant for the agency to put an end to all payments to Global West Vessel.

“I tell you with due sense of responsibility that there is no such directive. If there is, nothing would have stopped NIMASA from informing members of the public or issuing statement to that effect,” he said.

“We are aware of our core mandate and we will do everything to enforce the federal government law as it affects the maritime sector. No rumor or falsehood will distract us,” he said.

Return of Letter Bombs: Six killed in China

Six people were killed on Wednesday when 15 letter bombs exploded in southern China, state media reported, with blasts reported in more than ten locations including government offices. Dozens more were injured by the explosives apparently placed in express delivery packages, the official Xinhua news agency said of the blasts on the eve of China’s national day holiday.

The explosions occurred in at least 13 locations in a rural county in China’s Guangxi region, the Nanguo Morning News, a local newspaper, cited police as saying. They included a prison, a government office and a shopping centre, it said. State broadcaster CCTV cited a local police chief as saying the blasts were caused by several  different explosive devices, adding that “the case is understood to be a criminal one”.

The blasts occurred at the seat of Liucheng county and the surrounding areas, Xinhua said. Pictures online showed a building half-collapsed. Witnesses also saw damaged vehicles on the road, Xinhua said. “Initial investigation showed that explosives could be inside express delivery packages,” it added.

In recent years several disgruntled Chinese citizens have bombed local government offices and public places in an attempt to bring attention to their grievances.

In Nigeria, one prominent person who was assassinated by Letter bomb was Dele Giwa in his Lagos home on 19 October 1986. The assassination occurred two days after he had been interviewed by security operatives.

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PDP senators kick as Buhari fails to submit list of ministers

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 nominees.

Akpabio,who noted that the nation’s newspapers in the last couple of weeks, have been awashed with stories of ministerial appointments by the president, asked the Senate President why he received the list from President Buhari and was hiding it from his colleagues.

As Saraki attempted to answer Akpabio’s question, Deputy Senate Leader, Ibn Bala Na’Allah, APC, Kebbi South, raised another point of order, where he explained that the day was still young, saying since the day’s session ends by 12:30pm, there was still the hope that the president would transmit the list of ministerial nominees to the Upper Chamber before the close of the session.

He also said since the day ends by 12 midnight, there was still hope that the list could come before the time. But the Senate President, who was thrown the question, could not provide answer, as he over-ruled Senator Akpabio, asking that the next item in the day’s agenda be introduced.

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Israeli air raids hit Gaza

Israeli air raids have hit the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave that was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, officials said Wednesday.

There were no reports of injuries from both the rocket fire and the Israeli raids, which the military said targeted “four terror sites”.

Witnesses and Palestinian security sources said four training camps for Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, were hit in the raids. They were empty at the time.

Three of the camps are located in Gaza City and the fourth in the north of the coastal enclave.

The rocket from Gaza was fired toward the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, according to the military.

Salafist militants claiming links to the Islamic State group have said they were behind recent rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, but Israel holds Hamas responsible for all such incidents.

Hamas is the Islamist movement that runs Gaza, which has been hit by three wars with Israel since 2008, including last summer’s devastating conflict that left more than 100,000 homeless and killed more than 2,200.

A rocket fired last week from Gaza into southern Israel caused no damage or injuries.

My husband never supported my re-election to the National assembly - Remi Tinubu

The Lawmaker representing Lagos Central Senatorial District, Senator Oluremi Tinubu has revealed that her re-election into the Senate did not get the backing of her husband, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. She made this revelation on Tuesday September 29th during the "Women in Government’ conference organised by the South-West Region of the Department For International Development, DFID in collaboration with the Office of the Deputy Governor of Lagos State.

"Tinubu likes his wife to be at home and what is more confusing to me is that most Muslim men do not want their wives to work, but I am a hard worker.

The former Lagos State First Lady noted that it was her district leaders who got the form for her and talked her husband into allowing her to run for the position.

“People have been saying that I got to this position because I am Asiwaju’s wife. What they did not realise is that in the past election, my husband asked me not to go for a second term. It was the leaders in my district that got me the form and talked to him that they wanted me to go back. You can go to my district, the elites might not know me but the grassroots are the ones supporting and voting massively for me. I think that is enough for me and that is how you can get elected, you have to really identify with your people; if really know your people, they will stand up for you,’’ she stated.

Tinubu noted that she worked hard in order to win the support of her constituency.

"When I got the bill to run for primaries, I told my husband that I needed money and he said no money. I fought with the people in my constituency because they said I have to give them more money and I said no, what about the ones I have been giving to you before? If you are not going to vote, so be it. They said that they were just voting for me because of Asiwaju and I responded that Asiwaju is not even supporting me, then, you can go and vote for him." She is however appreciative of their massive support.

"But I’m grateful they voted for me. I have realised that when you are elected, you have to go back and work with your constituency because that is where your support and vote rests,’’ she stated

Stop condemning homosexuals, they don’t deserve it – Catholic Bishops tell Nigerians

The Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria, CBCN has appealed to Nigerians, especially Nigerian media to stop condemning homosexuals and Lesbians in Nigeria. The bishops stated this in an article titled “Still on Same-Sex Union and the Stand of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria”, which was shared by the group’s director of social communication, Chris Anyanwu.

According to the article, the bishops welcomed the Nigerian government's anti-gay law but they do not seek the punishment or jailing of persons who err but to help them unto salvation.



The article reads in part

“There is certainly an obsession by some journalists about ‘severe punishment of gays or lesbians’ and they try to twist the Bishops’ statements to articulate their views. Nigerian Catholic bishops are very responsible pastors who do not seek the punishment or jailing of persons who err, but to help them unto salvation. In wrongly reading the letter of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) in January 2015 to President Goodluck Jonathan, some international organizations mischievously reduced the CBCN position to advocating severe punishment of gays or lesbians with long prison terms. What the CBCN supported, blessed and commended in their letter of 21st January, 2015 to former President Goodluck Jonathan was because the Nigerian government upheld the dignity and sanctity of marriage even in the face of all sorts of pressure. When, therefore, the federal government resisted the attempt to impose this culture on Nigerians by legislating against ‘same-sex union’, the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria felt a sense of great relief and issued a statement to affirm government’s decision. The Archbishop Kaigama we know is a careful and pastorally-minded prelate who would not have used such words as: ‘shameful’, ‘barbaric’, ‘madness’, etc. to refer to anyone. Our stand was and is ‘no to same sex union’ and ‘no to spreading of the homosexual culture’ which can only complicate our struggle to uphold traditional/ religious/moral values in our country,” he said.

Read the full article HERE

Timi Alaibe pulls out of APC's Bayelsa guber primary

One of the governorship aspirants in Bayelsa state, Timi Alaibe has pulled out of the APC governorship primaries in Bayelsa state. In a statement he released today, Alaibe who is a former MD of NDDC, said he was stepping down in the interest of the party. His statement in part reads

"I am not oblivious of the fundamental fact that we all need a virile, united, cohesive and collaborative APC to bring about our desires to fruition. Not only do we need this, APC deserves every sacrifice, including personal interests, to arrive at the envisaged destination come February, 2016. This is more so that both as individual leaders and as a party, the need to avoid a situation of crisis that the PDP might inadvertently reap from cannot be over-emphasised.” he said

Senate begins sitting without ministerial list

The senate this morning began its sitting without senate president Bukola Saraki reading the much awaited ministerial list. The tradition in the senate has always been that any communication from the President is read before the commencement of proper legislative business but that did not happen as Senator Bukola went straight into legislative matters.

The minority leader of the senate Godswill Apakbio observed the abnormal and immediately raised a point of order.

“The President had promised to announce his ministerial nominees today and the Senate President has finished reading the days announcements without it, why?,” Akpabio said.

The senate president however did not reply him. Senate leader, Bala Ibn Na'Allah said the legislative day had not elapsed and so more everyone should be patient. The house is still in session.

Military action alone cant defeat war on terror - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari in a statement delivered on Tuesday at the Global Leaders’ Summit on Countering ISIL and Violent Extremism organised by President Barack Obama on the sideline of the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York said military action alone would never be enough to end terrorism and extremism around the globe.He said good governance, transparency, accountability and rule of law, are some of the best ways to start the process of ridding the world of terrorism.
He said while Nigeria acknowledges the efforts by the UN and the international community to tackle ISIS, a lot more needs to be done.
He said:“Nigeria notes with satisfaction the efforts of the United Nations and the rest of the international community to contain ISIL. We certainly need to do more.“We need to take military action combined with effective border security, intelligence collection and sharing, and vigorous policing action.“These alone may not suffice, but they can certainly stem the tide and reverse the process of recruitment, movement and effective operation of foreign terrorist fighters and their associated radical extremists.“In order to put in place the critical components of an effective approach to countering ISIL and eventually defeating it, we must address the threat from the source.“We must find a way to prevent young people from turning to terror in the first place. And the young people that turn to violent extremism do not exist in a vacuum – they are often part of communities and families and are lured into the fold of barbaric and nihilistic organisations, somehow, through a misguided appeal to their worst fears, expectations and apparent frustrations.“While addressing the causes of this attraction and how to deal with them, we should pay close attention to other manifest factors that may not be tangible but can be crucial.“Good governance, which entails transparency, accountability and the rule of law, remains the basis on which we should kick-start the process of ridding the world of the menace of terrorism and violent extremism.“The international community will be required to work together to deter and disrupt illicit financial flows from nations with weak anti-theft structures to other parts of the world.”

Punch

Why I married 18year old Adamawa princess - Emir of Kano

Emir of Kano Muhammad Sanusi II has responded to criticisms following his marriage to 18 year old Sa'adatu Barkindo-Musdafa last week. In a private email sent to select people which has leaked to many social media platforms, he explained why he decided to marry Sa'adatu. Read below
"I am sure NC members all have their views and have kept quiet out of (appropriate) deference to our right to make our individual choice. Obviously I do not need to explain anything to anyone in a purely personal matter but a few points are worthy of note:1. The lady in question is 18 and thererfore legally of age to marry under all laws and certainly inder Muslim law

2. She is proceeding for her undergraduate education in the UK in january. She had an A in computer science in her O levels and plans to get a degree in computer science

3 each and everyone of my wives is a university graduate and some have worked and fhen stopped and in each case the choice was purely theirs

4. It is a tradition in Kano that emirs and princes in choosing wives consider issues beyond the individual. The family is in every sense a social unit. My predecessor was married to princesses from Ilorin, Katsina and Somoto

5 The relationship between the late Lamido of Adamawa Aliyu Musdafa the father of the current Lamido is well known. Lamido Aliyu was the first emir turbanned after emir Sanusi I and they remained close until Sanusi’s death. 

6. My own relationship with the current Lamido dates back to 1981 when he was Ciroma and commissioner for works. By the way the Lamido and I are not illiterates we know what we are doing and he does have a PhD in Engineering

7. My own mother was married in Adamawa and lived there for more than two decades and I have eight younger brothers and sisters from there

8 it is therefore natural that if I choose to marry from another kingdom Adamawa would be the first choice for me and I am extremely happy to strengthen these ling historical bonds

9. The young lady in question gave her free consent and even after the contract the wedding will not happen for a few years. By then she may be 21. If she freely consents to this I do not know on what moral grounds anyone has a grouse. She is an adult, she gave her consent, her education is not being in anyway interrupted.

 10. The real issue is that people do not accept cultural difference. And you can see it in the approach to these issues. I am supposed to be urbane and western educated. Yes but i am not european.

 I am a northern Nigerian Fulani Muslim brought up in a setting exactly like the one my children are being brought up in. If you read this and it improves your understanding of this issue that is fine. If it does not justvremember it us not your life, it is not your daughter and you are not my wife therefore it is not your business. I obviously cannot stoop to the level of responding publicly to these kinds of articles. I have always been an advocate of girls marrying after maturing. I personally like the minimum age of 18 even though i understand those who say 16 is fine and indeed this is the law in most so calked @advanced@ countries. Is this something that I expect a european or western trained or feminist mind to appreciate or endorse? Not at all. But has any american been bothered about my views on men marrying men or women marrying women which frankly I find primitive and bestial? No and my views do not matter. These are cultural issues. Even in Nigeria I have heard all this stuff as in Pius article about “north” and northerners. Again it is a failure to respect difference. There are parts if this country where parents expect their daughters to live with their boyfriends for years and actually get pregnant before they marry. It has become culture. We do not have that in the north and if your daughter gets pregnant before marriage she brings nothing but shame to the name. But we do not issue condemnations. We agree that this is how they choose to live. 

And i can give many other examples. When people use the term libido they do themselves injustice. First of all it shows how they view women and marriage. Women are nothing but the object of sexual desire. Marriage is nothing but sexual gratification. Well I am sorry but in my tradition it is not. Beauty and attraction rank third after religion and lineage in the choice of a wife. They see an 18 year old young lady. I see a princess of noble birth whose mother is also a princess, and who has been brought up in a good muslim home. This is the kind of woman that is prepared for hiving birth to princes and bringing them up for the role expected of them in society. Martiage is both social and political. Expanding the links of kano which have already been established by my predecessors through inter marriage with katsina, sokoto, ilorin, katagum, ningi, bauchi etc to adamawa is an important and signifant step and this is obvious to anyone with a sense of how royal families work and Ibn Khaldun’s sociological concept of Asabiyyah. When the emir of Kano marries it has to be something beyond what he oersonally desires to what is appropriate for that position and the expectations of the people he represents. You dont just pick up any girl on the street. And by the way for thise who shout libido sex is cheap and available everywhere in all shapes and sizes and all colours if that is what they want. And all ages too.

 Marriage is a very different proposition. The mother of your children has to be something other than, ot at least much more than a mere object of sexual fantasy. But if you do not know that you need to buy yourself a brain. I have daughters. And they know they can only marry from certain backgrounds. I always prefer family. When my daughter wanted to marry mouftah baba ahmed’s son and she asked me, knowing my views on family, i told her mouftah is family. And this is not about me and mouftah or me an hakeem or nafiu. No. It goes back to Baba Ahmed and Emirs Sanusi and Bayero. And the same rule applies to my sons. And it applied to me as well. 

It is I am sure very strange that I should even bother to comment on this. But it would be hypocritical for me to just keep quiet so long as these things are being posted and commented upon explicitly or in a snide manner. There was no secrecy in the marriage fatiha. The date was fixed and it was to be done in the central mosque after friday prayers. The day before we had a tragedy in Saudi Arabia and decided the fatiha must be very low key as a mark of respect for the dead. All traditional rulers in adamawa were there, as were governors and commissioners, members of my own emirate council and adamawa people. There is nothing here to hide or be apologetic about. 
The emirs of adamawa have shown love to my parents and grandparents and it is a sign of my appreciation of their love that i marry their daughter. This is the highest statement of friendship and loyalty on both sides. 
Again if you understand this this is fine. If you do not buy yourself a brain, A la Pius. 
In any event this is my one and final and only comment on this. And I am making it out of respect for NC members.”MSII “

Jim Carrey's girlfriend commits suicide

Jim Carrey's 28-year-old on/off-again girlfriend, Cathriona White has committed suicide. Her body was found at her residence last night after her friends called the police. TMZ reports below...
Our sources say White left a suicide note addressed to Carrey which references their break up on Sept. 24. Cathriona tweeted on the 24th ... "Signing off Twitter, I hope I have been a light to my nearest and dearest." 
Law enforcement tells us they believe she died from an overdose of drugs - pills were next to her body. We're told 2 friends found Cathriona last night when they went to check on her. 53-year-old Carrey and White met in 2012, dated a few months and then split. They rekindled their relationship in May.

Survivors says Saudi Arabia paramedics favoured white victims over Africans

One of the survivors from the recent stampede in Saudi Arabia, an indigene of Osun State, resident in Warri, Delta State revealed that paramedics ignored African pilgrims and concentrated on rescuing white and Caucasian victims which resulted in a high casualty rate among Africans. He said he was stuck in the midst of dead bodies for more than two hours and there was no help from paramedics, who favoured whites over blacks.

"I tried to escape but it was impossible as I was stuck in the midst of many dead bodies and some people were climbing over me to find an escape. I struggled to get myself up to the waist level. From my toe to my waistline, people were all over and I could not get up. I was calling the Saudi police and paramedics on the scene to help me but they didn’t respond and I was stuck there for more than two hours as they were busy helping whites, with no response to my plea,"

Nigerian Hajj stampede female victim in hospital in Saudi Arabia

Unidentified Mina stampede victim from Kwara State in critical condition at King Abdul'aziz hospital, Saudi Arabia. A lot of Nigerians are missing relatives. Anyone knows who this woman is?

Man 'happily' married to 3 women encourages men to marry more than one wife

Fresha Nyambura, Esther Nyaguthii and Agnes Wambui have been married to Charles Macharia for 30 years. The women are now jointly planning the payment of their dowry. They organised an animated ceremony for first wife Nyambura last Saturday, September 26, in Murang'a town, Kenya, that saw them all dance with their husband and explain their unusual set up.

 "They respect and listen to me. My authority is never undermined," First wife Nyambura said.She said they have a systematic way of spending time with Macharia but did not give details. Second wife Nyaguthii said;
"He advised us when he decided to get other wives. We are satisfied; there is no need to cause problems. Men pretend to be faithful while keeping their other wives a secret, but we are all here together."Third wife Wambui said they love each other and are good friends. The three, who live in different houses, broke down their roles ahead of the dowry ceremony to Macharia, who gave them the money needed. Asked to introduce his family during the event, Macharia began by inquiring about attendants only interested in his polygamy.

He then asked those who attended because of their friendship to raise their hands after which he said;
"Let all my wives come here for introduction."The businessman then introduced the women in the order in which he married them, followed by his 12 children.
"There is no man here who does not have another wife. Notice how smart they are. You have to wake up early and take care of the family. You cannot laze around, you must work hard."Macharia said he is satisfied and will now focus on getting more children, and lauded his wives for uniting and living peacefully. It is best for men to declare their other relationships, he said, adding that all was well in his family, and urging men to marry more than one woman. Macharia said plans to pay dowry for Nyaguthii and Wambui were in place.

Source: The Star Kenya

Photos of Boko Haram members allegedly celebrating Sallah openly

These are photos of suspected Boko Haram members openly celebrating Sallah in their hideout. According to Sahara reporters, the pictures are from a video released by the sect members apparently in a bid to counter the statements of the Nigerian army that they are being routed out.

Woman held for attempt to use Uche twins for fraud

•’She told us she wanted to put them on a film’

The police have arrested a woman for allegedly attempting to use the four-month old twins of Mrs Ruth Uche, whose husband fled after she gave birth to them, to defraud a retired police chief.

The woman was caught at College Road Estate, when she took the babies to the retired police officer’s house, claiming that they were his grandchildren.

It was learnt that the suspect, a mother of two, identified as Victoria, was introduced to the Uches by a neighbour.

She was said to have told the twins parents that she wanted the babies to appear in a film.

Although Mrs Uche’s husband, Emeka was said to have initially declined, he later conceded on the condition that his wife must go with the children.

Rather than taking them to location, she was said to have carried the babies to the house of the wealthy man, who was said to be happy to see his ‘grandchildren’.

But, the suspect could not say the sex and age of the babies when she was asked.

The suspect, had earlier taken the twins’pictures and sent to the man, claiming that they were boys and two months old.

When the retired officer saw the babies, he realised that they were a boy and a girl, and looked much older than two months.

It was then Mrs Uche suspected something was amiss and told the man the age and sex of her babies.

“I did not understand what was going on. I do not even know the place we went to. She has been pleading with us that she wanted to use the twins (youngest set) in a film.

“My husband initially denied but later since she said it was to act film; I begged my husband and he agreed on the condition that I go with the woman.

“So, around 11:30am on Sunday, we all left the house and came to Agege. She took us to one big man’s house, I do not know the place and she told me to sit down that it is she and the kids that will act the film.

“But when I sat down, I heard the man asking her whether my children are two boys and how old they are.

“She said two months and that they are boys but I told the man that they are a boy and a girl, and that they are four months old.

“The man asked whose children they were and I told him they are my children and that the woman said she wanted to act film with them.

“That was when the man started shouting and saying that she told him that my children are his grandchildren. That she has sent their picture before and that she told him his son impregnated her before travelling abroad.

“The man now said that we were in it together and that I knew about it. I told him I do not know anything that the only thing she told us was that she wanted to act film with my babies.

“Before she did not want to talk, but when people threatened her, she now told them that I am innocent. That she wanted to get money from the man. That woman is a criminal,” Mrs Uche said.

The suspect said she wanted to use the twins to get money from the retired officer for her children’s school fees.

She claimed that she did not plan to sell them; nor was she planning to steal them from their parents.

“Please I am sorry, have mercy on me. I am a poor widow and I have two children. I begged their parents that I wanted to act film with the twins and the twins’ father told his wife to follow me.

“I wanted to use them to collect money from the man because I used to date his son after I lost my husband.

“Before he travelled abroad last year, I got pregnant for him but I aborted the baby. So, because I needed money, I decided to use the twins and show his father so that I can get money from him and pay my children’s school fees.

“I did not plan to sell them and I did not know that things will turn out this way,” cried Victoria.

Contacted, the command spokesman, Joseph Offor, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the woman’s arrest.

He said the twins’ mother would have been detained too but for the children.

Offor said investigations were ongoing to be sure the parents did not conspire with the suspect.

Nationsonline

61 year old man on the run for raping 11 year old and 10 year old sisters

A 61-year-old year security man, identified as John, is currently on the run for allegedly raping two sisters for several weeks in the Anthony area of Lagos.  learnt that  John reportedly gave the sisters, an 11-year-old and a 10-year-old N200 each time he raped them and warned them that he would kill them if they revealed the secrets to their mother or anyone else.
It was gathered that the rape, which reportedly went on for several weeks, was later discovered on August 30, when the girls started to complain about back pain and headache and opened up to their mother.“I work as a food seller. John was one of my customers. He would say I should send a take-away pack to him at his workplace by afternoon. So, when the girls returned from school, I would send the two of them to take the food to him. I did not suspect that he was raping them.“When they took the food to him, he would take them to a place and rape both of them. After satisfying himself, he would give them N200, and warn them not to say anything at home. He would threaten that he would harm them if they spoke up.“Eventually, the two of them started to complain about headache and back pain. I was worried. On one occasion, I happened to be where the 11-year-old was taking her bath, and I observed that her private parts were slack as an adult’s. I was shocked, and I urged her to tell me what went wrong.“That was when she opened up that it was John who had been sleeping with her and her sister. I rushed to the police station to make a report, but news had got to John that the girls had let out the matter, and he fled the area on the same day.“But the police have assured us that he would be arrested. They told us to alert them anytime we set our eyes on him.”A resident in the area, Fatai Gafar, said the police should need to areest John asap and that the girls need medical attention which they haven't received yet.
 He said:“The whole estate is aware of the incident. It is very unfortunate. The security man does not live here with his family. He was the only person staying in the place he rented, and he has fled."
Punch
 

Senate gets Buhari’s list of Ministers today

IT is certain that the list of ministers is ready, and President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that the prized document should be submitted immediately to the Senate, which resumes from its six-week break, today.

The list was said to contain the names of people like former Rivers State Governor, Mr Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi; a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Rotimi Akeredolu; former Army Chief, Lt-Gen. Abdurrahman Dambazzau, and activist lawyer, Femi Falana, among others.

It was gathered, yesterday, that President Buhari handed the list to his Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang, and directed him to forward it to the Senate President.

Therefore, Senate President, Bukola Saraki will tomorrow formally present Buhari’s ministerial list to senators.

President Buhari, currently attending the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly, was said to have given the list of 36 ministers to Senator Ita Enang in New York.

It was gathered that President Buhari directed Senator Ita Enang to either hand over the list to the Senate President at the resumption of the plenary today or on Wednesday, depending on the mood of the Senate.

However, it was  learned that Enang who left New York for Nigeria, yesterday, will not arrive Abuja before 3pm today, when the Senate would have concluded its business for the day. The Presidency had repeatedly promised that the list would be available this month and tomorrow is the last day of September.

Meanwhile, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has dismissed as a family affair perceived misgivings between the party and President Buhari over the ministerial list.

Fresh primary  poll in Bayelsa

This came as  APC National Working Committee, NWC, yesterday, said the party was going ahead with the conduct of a fresh governorship primary in Bayelsa State, insisting that the previous one was invalid.

It also asked the former governor of the state, Timipre Sylva, who purportedly won the last primary election, to approach the court should he find the decision of the NWC unwholesome.

Asked if the NWC discussed the ministerial list, Odigie-Oyegun said: “We know that the President will do what he needs to do. What happened or did not happen between us and the President is a matter for the party as a family. It is a family affair, but he will do what he needs to do, when he needs to do it. You can trust him on that.”

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, who was the chairman of the election panel, testified before the NWC that there was no election, stressing that hoodlums attacked him, making the exercise inclusive.

Briefing journalists after the NWC meeting at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, Odigie-Oyegun said the process for fresh primaries would commence today.

He said the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mr. Solomon Arase, had been notified of the decision.

His words: “The main issue that occupied us today at the NWC meeting had to do with the Bayelsa governorship primaries. We want to make it very clear that as a party, the APC guards very jealously its records of free and fair primaries.

“The NWC sees it as a duty to provide a level playing ground for all those who aspire to offices in this party, unfortunately, in Bayelsa state, we had serious security challenges and so the process could not meet the standards which this party has set for itself and so we had no alternative but to stop the process by ensuring that the chairman of the panel was effectively moved out of the venue with the help of security agencies.

“We decided thereafter that there should be a proper primary. So, we have written to INEC appropriately and decided to conduct fresh primaries for the Bayelsa governorship election beginning tomorrow. We are getting in touch with the Inspector General of Police and all the other security agencies to please assist us in ensuring effective security.”

Oyegun stated that the party was not interested in who emerged the candidate eventually but that due process must be followed as APC stood for change and must reflect it in its dealings.

“Let me make one thing clear. The issue of who is candidate or not is not the issue here. That is not what is in consideration because it can be any of the 19 aspirants that obtained the form to contest that election.

‘’But for the APC, the party of change, it is essential that in party processes, elections within the party are also seen to be free, fair, totally above board and without any form of force.

‘’That is what we hope to achieve beginning from tomorrow. The venue remains Yenagoa because by law, you cannot change the venue because that is part of the electoral act,” he said.

Primary election c’ttee returned Sylva under pressure

The national chairman also exonerated the panel that declared Sylva winner, saying anybody could have done so under the intense atmosphere.

“We sent people to do a job and it got to a situation where they had reasons to fear for their safety, rightly or wrongly. Anything that anybody does in such a situation to keep body and soul in one piece is welcome,’’ he said.

Reminded that Sylva might challenge NWC’s decision, Oyegun said:   “That is what the courts are for. We will cross that bridge when we get there. The Saraki issue is in court and I will not want to say one word about it.”

Speaking on security arrangement for the fresh primary, he said: “They say once beaten, twice shy. I am not a security man; I am not a security expert. But I am sure that the IGP is fully abreast of  what happened that day as well what can be done and need to be done to avoid a repetition and we trust his judgement.”

Cancelled primary was a mini-war, says Oshiomhole

Meanwhile, the chairman of the election panel, Governor Adams Oshiomhole, appeared before the NWC and testified what transpired at the Yenagoa election.

Briefing journalists, the governor stated that he was not on any revenge mission but was being truthful about the situation, admitting that what happened in Bayelsa was a mini war.

He said: “I along with six other colleagues of mine were a panel to conduct the primaries. We have reported back and we have signed the report, five of us and that report has been presented formally to the party and it details all the issues. You know them and that is how far I can go. The report belongs to the party. It is not for me as a steward to tell the master what to do, but we have reported.

“I really don’t want to go back to those issues. These are not issues that transpired in a bedroom. I do hope that some day we get to a point where even the media must defend the democratic space, concerning what happened in the stadium I have seen independent reports, “gun shots were being fired”, “AK 47 were recovered, two of them, Pump action, live ammunition.

“These are not secrets that transpired. I am not the issue and I don’t want to be the issue. There are issues that are important to me. I didn’t go there as a governor. I went there as a party member on a national assignment for the party and it is a great honour.

“I have done that job along with my colleagues to the best of my ability and I have reported with the fear of God the truth as I know it and this has been signed by every member and we have forwarded the report.”

Oshiomhole also denied speculations that he planned to favour one of the aspirants, Mr. Timi Alaibe, emphasizing that Sylva was his “brother”.

“You know Sylva is my brother and I can show you my phone, I’m not just calling him my brother, I have sent him a text saying my brother and he will remain my brother. So, if there is an argument or somebody is under tension what you need is our help, I know what it takes contesting for an election and I have passed through all of that and happily, I’m doing my second term.

“So, I will not create burden for anyone except that because of the tradition I’m coming from, democracy has only one meaning “one man, one vote”. It is a covenant between me and my God. I have fought electoral fraud in Edo and God mercifully aided me and we defeated some of the retrogressive forces and if there is nothing else I can do, the principle of one man one vote is something I’m committed to so. If he is offended by that it is a pity. For emphasis, Sylva is my brother and I’m not going to fight him in the street”, he stated.

Meanwhile, there was palpable fear earlier in the day when the NWC meeting came on stream as the party secretariat witnessed an unusual horde of stern-looking police men and operatives from the Department of State Service, DSS.

Vanguard gathered that the development was a measure to prevent anticipated showdown should there be an attack from, perhaps, Silva’s camp.

It will be recalled that the social media went viral with the news credited to Sylva that the APC national chairman could not upturn his electoral victory or stop him from contesting the December 5 governorship election in Bayelsa State.

Vanguard

Queen of Aso 2015 winners.

The 10th edition Queen of Aso Nigeria 2015 has come and gone but the memory still lingers because it was one of the best show ever organised any where in the country. The event was world class with the contestants of the little Queen of Aso and Queen of Aso.

The contestants who represented various ethnics groups in the country exhibited great level of intelligent, dance and Beauty to promote the rich cultural heritage and tourism value of Nigeria.

At the end of the competition 25yrs Old princess Jessica Anyansi(Queen Fulani) from Delta State was crowned the Queen of Aso World 2015,Queen Sandra Ekwosiobi(Queen Igbo)from Anambra State was crowned Queen of Aso Universe 2015,while Queen Cynthia Umenyi Was crown Queen of Aso Africa 2015,Miss Habibat Aliyu(Queen Okun)-Queen of Aso Tourism 2015,Miss Kate Asima(Queen Kalabari)-Queen of Aso Ambassador 2015,Miss Chichibem Aguocha(Queen Ibiobio)-Queen of Aso Photogenic 2015,Miss Tosin Amina Pedro(Queen Yoruba)-Ambassador of Sofa 2015,Miss Miebaka Wokoma(Queen Okrika)-Face of Aso Label 2015, the winner will represent Nigeria @ Miss Tourism Universe 2016 and Miss Africa Naiades 2015 ...

The winner of the little Queen of Aso World 2015 is Miss Miss Chelsea Aniegboka(Queen Efik) ,,Little Queen of Aso universe is Miss Jennifer Sabastine (Queen Igbo); Little Queen of Aso Africa is Miss Crown Bereba (Queen Ogoni),Miss Hadiza Shehu(Queen Fulani) is Little Queen of Aso Tourism 2015 ,the Winner will represent Nigeria @ Little Miss Wolrd 2016.

The event had high personalities like the Director General National Council for Arts and Culture -Mrs Dayo Keshi and the entire management staff of the agency, Ambassador John Fashanu,the representative of the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of culture and Tourism and the Permanent Secretary of FCT.

Top Nigeria musicians like Joe el, project fame winner Monica Ogar, Jumabee performed during this anniversary edition to the delight of the crowd at Sheraton hotels and towers Abuja. And the event was anchored by Kyrss da Boss of Cool 96.9fm and Amaka of Hot 98.3fm.