Author: darelasisi@gmail.com
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has “strongly condemned the violent re-arrest today of Omoyele Sowore and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare by officials of the State Security Service (SSS), and the apparent harassment and intimidation of Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu.” Armed SSS officials reportedly stormed the courtroom, causing pandemonium at the court and physically assaulting Mr Sowore. The judge reportedly had to take cover. She had earlier ordered the SSS to release Sowore within 24 hours and also pay him N100,000 for improper legal conduct. The SSS then released Mr Sowore only for him and his co-defendant to be violently re-arrested.…
President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Abuja told state chairmen of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that only members with solid base from the grassroots to national level will represent the party in elective positions. Receiving state chairmen of the party led by the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, at State House, the President urged them to serve the party with all their might and see their ‘‘chairmanship’’ as part of national service. President Buhari said the ‘‘bottom-to-top approach’’ would ensure that only popular party men and women represent the party’s interest at the national level. ‘‘In my own opinion, this is…
By Fredrick Nwabufo On June 12, 2018, Joshua Dariye, former Plateau state governor and senator, huddled in the dock awaiting the verdict of fate for pilfering N1.6 billion public funds at a high court of the federal capital territory (FCT). Dariye was lachrymal, wiping hot tears from his eyes. Before the senator was handed a 14-year jail sentence by Adebukola Banjoko, the presiding judge, he begged for mercy – a luxury he did not accord to the people of Plateau who endured his troubled administration. He was found guilty of 14 counts out of the 23 preferred against him by…
Ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc said it received more than 3,000 reports of sexual assault-related to its 1.3 billion rides in the United States in 2018, in a report aimed at assuring drivers and the public that it was serious about safety. The figure represents a 16-percent fall in the rate of incidents from the previous year in the five most serious categories of sexual assault reported, Uber said on Thursday in its first biennial US Safety Report. The company also said that reports of assaults on passengers overlooked the risks for drivers. Riders, in fact, accounted for roughly half…
Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, has commended the Nigerian army for its research and development effort as well as innovation leading to the production of made in Nigeria military hardware. Olonisakin gave the commendation during the tour of Nigerian army research and development exhibition at the ongoing 2019 Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference on Thursday in Kaduna. He said the decision of the Nigerian army to explore the full potential within its ranks to come up with reputable innovations would be a boost to ongoing counter-insurgency operations. “It is in this regard that I wish to recognize…
Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala Usman has called for the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of the harassment and humiliation to which she was subjected to by people believed to be hirelings of Chairman of Ocean Maritime Solutions Limited (OMSL), Captain Idahosa Okunbo on the premises of the National Assembly on Tuesday, December 3, 2019. Bala Usman, in a petition addressed to the Inspector General of Police, the President of the Senate and Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), explained that she was at the senate on the said date to honour the invitation…
The Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila has assured that the House would commence work on the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) and the amendment of the 1999 Constitution next year. The Speaker said both the constitution review and the PIGB are part of the bills that the House would prioritize in 2020. He noted that the House would do everything within its powers to give Nigeria the best in terms of laws that would promote peace and good governance in the country. Gbajabiamila spoke at a retreat organized for chairmen of standing committees of the House by…
No fewer than 95,000 Nigerian Muslims are expected to perform the 2020 pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. An official of the Nigeria Hajj Commission, Alhaji Ahmad Muazu of NAHCON social media department, told NAN that the Nigerian delegation was led by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada. The MOU was essentially to address the issue of welfare of Nigerian pilgrims who are going to perform Hajj in terms of accommodation, flights, and other services to ensure hitch-free Hajj.. The MOU was signed on behalf of Nigeria by Dada, and Saudi…
The National Mathematical Centre (NMC) on Thursday honoured 69 students of both junior and senior secondary schools with various awards for their outstanding performances in the 2018/2019 Nigeria National Olympiad competition. At the awards ceremony in Sheda, Kwali Area Council, Abuja, Prof. Stephen Onah, Director/Chief Executive of NMC, commended the awardees for their performances in the five subject areas of the competition. Onah said that the beneficiaries should consider themselves as champions, adding that the Olympiad examination was not about how brilliant or clever someone was but about intelligence and having problem-solving skills. “So in Olympiad training, we don’t teach,…
Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) says a total of 77,827 candidates have registered for the Council’s December Diet Professional Qualifications Examinations (PQE). The Registrar of the Council, Professor Josiah Ajiboye, made this known in Abuja during a media briefing on the Special PQE which began on Thursday. Ajiboye, who said that the council recorded an upsurge in the numbers of candidates registering for the exams, hinted that the government would not shift the Dec. 31 deadline to end quackery in the teaching profession. According to him, “the Dec. 1 deadline was not given by TRCN but the National Council…