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Buhari to supporters: Dont jump INEC gun
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presidential election would hold on february 16 2019 while governorship and state assembly elections would be conducted on march 2 20191 president muhammadu buhari has urged supporters to slow down further campaigns for his re-election as they amount as a breach of the rules of the independent national electoral commission1 according to inec time-table party primaries for the presidential governorship federal and state elections would begin on august 18 to end on october 7 2018 while that of the fct area council elections will commence on september 4 to end on october 27 20181 the campaigns1 the last day for the submission of nomination forms to inec is december 3 2018 for presidential and national assembly elections december 17 for governorship and state assembly and december 14 2018 for the fct area council elections1 mr. femi adesina the media adviser to president buhari sued for patience on saturday in a statement. however supporters are free to publicize the various achievements of the buhari administration he said1 here is adesinas statement it has been observed that some fervent supporters of president muhammadu buhari have begun what may be interpreted as political campaigns in their advocacies and advertisements in the mass media1 we appreciate their enthusiasm borne out of desire to garner support for an administration that is actuated by nothing else other than service for motherland but we hereby appeal for patience so that the game can be played according to the rules1 the independent national electoral commission inec has a timetable for political campaigns and we urge committed supporters round the country and beyond to be mindful of such. there will be ample time ahead to trumpet the good works of the buhari administration and solicit re-election all for the good of our country and her people1 while a chronicle of the achievements of the administration is in order now outright canvasing may amount to jumping the gun. we are an administration committed to due process and scrupulous respect for rules law and order1 we appreciate our massive supporters nationwide and urge them to exercise restraint till the race commences officially as stipulated by law1 -
Another Nigerian killed in South Africa
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nan5 olubajo said that the inability of the government to bring to book those perpetrating the heinous crimes against nigerians has given the criminals free hands2 lack of prosecution of these criminal activities has actually embolden a lot of people to feel that they can kill nigerians without any consequence he said2 he expressed concern that governments apathy to arrest and prosecute the killers has made the situation more complex2 when there are no arrests no prosecutions criminals will have effrontery to go into crime without fear of retribution2 what we are demanding is that whosoever commits any crime should be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others he said2 olubajo also urged both nigerian and south african authorities to work together to address the situation and reduce criminal activities against nigerians in south africa2 miller said that the south african police later intervened and arrested the murder suspect1 a murder case has been opened and investigation has started. we call on nigerians to be calm and allow the law to take its course miller said1 he said the union was against at any form of violence adding that it would monitor the case to ensure that justice prevailed1 mr chibuzo nwankwo 42-year-old enugu state native was shot in the early hours of friday at a local bar in kempton park johannesburg following a disagreement with an unknown person1 olubajo blamed the incessant killings of nigerians in south africa on lack of prosecution of offenders by the authorities1 another nigerian has been killed in south africa bringing the number of those killed since january 2016 to 1211 the nigerian community in south africa on saturday confirmed the killing of nwankwo1 the community said that nwankwos death brings to 121 the number of nigerians killed in south africa since january 20161 people are embolden to perpetrate the crime with impunity and without consequences because of lack of prosecution1 mr habib miller the publicity secretary of the nigerian union in south africa told the news agency of nigeria nan on the telephone from pretoria on saturday1 the deceased a patron of the bar got drunk and started harassing a female worker1 information available to the union said that nwankwo was chased out by security personnel but he kept on coming back became very aggressive and rude before the ugly incident occurred he said1 he however called nigerians in south africa to be law abiding and shun criminal activities1 the president of nigerian union in south africa mr adetola olubajo had called on the south african authorities to arrest and prosecute killers of nigerians in that country1 -
Museveni runs again after 32 years in office
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source63 ugandas constitutional court has removed the 75-year-old age cap allowing president yoweri museveni now 73 to run again as president1 the president has already spent 32 years in office and he is seeking a sixth term1 the court delivered its ruling on the consolidated presidential age limit petition at the high court in mbale on thursday1 the three main issues the court was to rule on were the lifting of the age caps extension of the term of parliament and the raid on the house last year1 in the verdict the five-judge bench by a majority of 4-1 upheld the removal of the 75-year age cap that allows president yoweri museveni1 the court unanimously rejected the extension of the tenure of the presidency and parliament from five to seven years1 it stated that it was unconstitutional to amend the law without subjecting it to a referendum. this means that elections are due in 20211 on the raid by security operatives who evicted mainly opposition mps from parliament during the age limit bill debate last year the judges said the conduct of lawmakers necessitated some intervention but condemned the handling of the incident by police1 -
Court orders Adeleke to present certificate
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the plaintiffs are also asking the court to grant an order restraining the pdp from presenting adelekes name to the independent national electoral commission inec for the september 22nd governorship poll2 the members are seeking that the court grant an interim order to set aside results of the governorship election that produced adeleke2 messrs rasheed olabayo and oluwaseun idowu had prayed the court to disqualify adeleke for not possessing a school certificate as required by section 177 d of the 1999 constitution1 they also asked the court to set aside the july 21 primary that produced adeleke as the partys governorship candidate1 in his ruling yesterday on the ex-parte application justice david oladimeji advised adeleke to present his secondary school certificate before the court on aug. 1.1 oladimeji held that the ex-parte injunction has only seven days lifespan adding there are still windows left open till august 8 according to the affidavits sworn to by the applicants1 it will be inequitable not to allow the respondent to come and show his certificate if he has any. but if given the opportunity to present his side of the case the balance which is necessary for interlocutory injunction would be adequately considered1 the osun state high court made the order on thursday to the candidate in the sept. 22 governorship election1 also adeleke has accused those he called fifth columnists for his travail1 addressing reporters in abuja on thursday his director of media and publicity adeleke campaign organisation mallam olawale rasheed said fifth columnists were playing out an alleged destructive script of their paymaster against the pdp1 rasheed noted that while the campaign organisation recognised the right of any aggrieved aspirant to seek redress the development he said raised discomforting questions about the real motive of the challenging camp1 some pdps governorship candidates had earlier dragged adeleke court for alleged non-possession of primary school certificate1 the governorship candidate of the peoples democratic party pdp in osun state sen. ademola adeleke has been handed seven days to produce his secondary school certificate1 justice oladimeji adjourned the motion on notice till august 1 for hearing1 -
North Korea returns remains of U.S. Soldiers
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it was a successful mission following extensive coordination general vincent brooks commander of the unc and united states forces korea said in a statement1 a us military aircraft flew the remains of american servicemen out of north korea on friday a move hailed by the white house as a positive step for the fragile detente between the two rivals1 after so many years this will be a great moment for so many families. thank you to kim jong un trump said in a tweet1 the white house said it was encouraged by the return of the remains and the momentum for positive change1 todays actions represent a significant first step to recommence the repatriation of remains from north korea and to resume field operations in north korea to search for the estimated 5300 americans who have not yet returned home it said1 after leaving the north korean port city of wonsan the c-17 cargo plane landed at the osan us air base in south korea at around 0200 gmt where live tv images showed american soldiers lined up for a ceremony1 the united nations command unc in south korea said 55 sets of remains were on board the plane1 the return of the remains on the 65th anniversary of the end of the korean war marks the partial fulfilment of an agreement reached between us president donald trump and north korean leader kim jong un at their historic summit in singapore last month1 now we will prepare to honour our fallen before they continue on their journey home1 more than 35000 americans were killed on the korean peninsula during the war out of which around 7700 are still considered missing including 5300 in north korea alone according to the pentagon1 between 1990 and 2005 229 sets of remains from the north were repatriated but those operations were suspended when ties deteriorated over pyongyangs nuclear weapons programme1 the remains flown to osan on friday are expected to be sent to hawaii for forensic identification following a formal repatriation ceremony next wednesday1 trump has hailed his summit agreement with kim as effectively ending the north korean nuclear threat although it contained only an ill-defined commitment on pyongyangs part to the denuclearisation of the korean peninsula a long way from the complete verifiable and irreversible disarmament demanded by washington1 the issue of repatriating remains of american war dead was seen as a far less contentious one and the summit agreement specified the immediate return of those remains already identified1 according to us officials north korea is estimated to have as many as 200 sets of remains ready for delivery1 -
Why Bantex Kaduna deputy governor is running for Senate seat
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this has been a very difficult decision for me in view of the uncommon goodwill and brotherly relationship that i currently enjoy with malam nasir el-rufai who has elevated the relationship between governor and deputy governor to a level of mutual respect engagement and involvement that is unparalleled in our democracy1 kaduna state deputy governor arch. barnabas yusuf bala bantex will gun for the kaduna south senate seat instead of running with governor nasir el-rufai in the 2019 election1 the deputy governor said his decision to run was taken to give his people quality representation and address national issues affecting them1 bantex who intends to contest on all progressives congress apc ticket said he took the difficult decision due to what his people have gone through in the area of insecurity in the last 10 years and the inability of their leaders to rise against it when it could have easily been done coupled with the need to give good leadership that would drag the zone from quagmire into greatness and progression1 in a speech titled southern politics is bridge-building not a pity party the deputy governor said with utmost confidence in the fair mindedness the results accomplished and the work being done by the apc government of kaduna state under the leadership of malam nasir el-rufai i have decided to offer myself as the apc candidate for the kaduna south senatorial district in the forthcoming 2019 election1 i will continue to serve as deputy governor of kaduna state while pursuing this aspiration. as deputy governor i have had several opportunities to witness this commitment to equity and i regret that some of the elected representation from my zone has not matched this broad-mindedness and constructive approach in the interest of our people in zone 31 i have therefore come to the conclusion that it is worth leaving the office of deputy governor to put these issues on the ballot to encourage more mature and sober political discourse in the area in order to deliver the desirable quality of representation for our people and attract the maximum dividend of democracy1 by throwing his hat in the ring bantex will hope to displace the incumbent senator danjuma laah one of the senators representing the state who el-rufai in a fit of anger described as useless after spearheading the rejection of a world bank loan by the senate. danjuma laah belongs to the peoples democratic party1 bala who was first elected chairman of apc in kaduna state said i have had the great pleasure to work with a team that has achieved a lot in human capital development making health and education more accessible to ordinary people building infrastructure and vigorously promoting equality of opportunity1 he said the government has been able to resist blackmail by those seeking political patronage and forces accustomed to benefitting from deliberate stoking of ethno-religious fires to achieve electronic voting implementing tsa remaking public service recruiting qualified teachers equipping primary health centres building township roads and creating jobs in the public and private sectors1 he said is aspiration aimed at ensuring equitable development of his zone to ensure that the people enjoy improved commensurate dividends of democracy better than before1 it is my firm intention to run on the record of the el-rufai government in promoting development across the state. i am fully prepared to challenge anyone that represents the failures of the past in delivering the best for our people. i am convinced that it is time for our people to firmly reject the poorest senatorial representation zone 3 has had since 19991 by gods grace and with the support of the people i have been privileged to serve as a member of the house of representatives on the platform of the action congress. i understood that such an office imposed on me a duty of responsible representation and this obligation led me to seek and maintain good relations with the state governor at the time namadi sambo despite his being of the pdp1 adapted from the nation1 -
Kwara PDP chairman Oyedepo rejects Saraki, Gov. Ahmed
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if we agree to work with them saraki just imagine myself and governor abdulfattah ahmed maigida standing on the same rostrum pledging to do things for the people. it will be a shame many people will look at me and wonder what has happened. so it is better not to be in politics again. instead of a dog being the treasurer for the lion it is better for both to part ways and go on their separate hunting game1 huge drama is expected in kwara state politics in the weeks ahead as senate president bukola saraki and governor abdulfattah ahmed formally declare their defection to the peoples democratic party from the all progressives congress1 a sign of what to expect is the declaration by the kwara state chairman of the peoples democratic party pdp akogun iyiola oyedepo that he cannot work with the incoming defectors especially saraki and governor abdulfattah ahmed1 two senators shaaba lafiagi kwara north and rafiu ibrahim kwara south as well as the six members of the house of representatives from the state were among federal legislators who defected on tuesday from the apc1 but oyedepo who spoke on the development on a radio programme in ilorin the state capital said the national leadership of the pdp set up a committee to interface between his group and the defectors. the first meeting is slated for next week he said1 the pdp chairman who said he had just returned from a meeting with pdp leaders in abuja blamed the partys national leadership for being allegedly insensitive to the political configuration in kwara state and allowing themselves to be swayed by funding capacity of the defectors. to him the option now before the leaders is to choose between his group and the sarakis1 just as witnessed in 2014 when apc members left to join the pdp after saraki joined the apc a counter-defection from the pdp to apc or another political group is now easily predictable1 we have not sat down with the senate president dr. bukola saraki and the state governor alhaji abdulfattah ahmed even though im hearing several rumours that i have met with them and that they have offered me juicy positions. those are all lies the senate president despite his humongous wealth does not yet have what it takes to buy me. he cannot ever buy me because he cannot buy my integrity. if my bank account is not fat my integrity account is very fat1 so they have not met with us but our national body said they have set up a committee to meet with the two sides next week and when that meeting comes up we are going to tell the national body that we cannot accept the formula they have put down which is 6040 60 percent for a state defecting with the governor and 40 percent for the existing pdp members. and if they said what of 5050 or 4060 or 3070 or even 1090 we shall not accept we cannot accept any offer. anything less than our not working tog1 so we will tell our national body to choose between us and them and i know that they will not choose us because we dont have money but we are not worried. we will only know that an end has come to our journey and our relationship in the pdp1 the blame is not from the saraki camp the blame is from our national leaders in the pdp. leadership in nigeria is the conspiracy of the elite to punish the downtrodden. when they gave us the party we inherited nothing and so whatever you see in the pdp today is the product of our efforts. for this alone we should not be interested in defecting from our own house but it is better we do so now and look forward to better future for our dear state1 oyedepo is author of the book shonga and the looting of kwara state treasury. he also wrote letters to the emir. shonga offers an incisive and revelatory account of how senator bukola saraki a formergovernor of kwara state in collaboration with the rejected white zimbabwe farmers ruined a thriving farming culture and thus manoeuvred the state into a debt trap1 with reports by the nation1 -
Offa robbery: Saraki makes cautionary statement to the police
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the police have obviously corrupted and politicized their investigations into the offa robbery incident. they have turned it into an instrument for the party in power to suppress perceived opponents witch-hunt issue for blackmailing people from freely choosing which platform on which they want to pursue their ambition and a matter for harassing the people whose exit from apc would harm the chances of the party in the forthcoming elections2 idris ruled the statement inadequate2 after a careful perusal of your letter to the police it was discovered that the statement requires further clarification and coupled with the fact that you stated that the full text of the statements of the suspects were not shown to you it is imperative you report to the police to make further statements after giving you the full text of the statements of the suspects2 the inspector general of police had on monday invited saraki to report to the head of investigation team of the intelligence response team irt on july 24 at 8 a.m. in guzape abuja. but saraki ignored the invitation until thursday 26 july1 the police had on 4 june asked for sarakis reaction to the statement made by some of the suspects arrested in connection to the most deadly robbery in the history of nigeria. sarakiwrote a statement dated 7 june1 senate president bukola saraki has now made a statement to the police in respect of the investigation into the multiple robberies in offa on 5 april in which 31 people were killed1 the police said investigation is in progress on the matter1 in a response saraki described the invitation as a mere afterthought which is designed to achieve political purpose1 the police in a short statement on thursday night reported the senate president made cautionary statement to the police investigation team investigating the case of offa bank robbery that occurred on 5th april 20181 i want to make it apparent that i have no hand in either the robbery incident or any criminal acitivity. the police in their haste to embarrass me sent the invitation to me at 8pm and requested that i report to the station by 8am tomorrow morning. this obviously demonstrated their desperation as i do not see why they are now in a hurry. saraki said1 the invitation was later to be mired in controversy as a report by the ministry of justice was leaked to the media. the report by the office of federal prosecutor said the police had no evidence to hang any charge on saraki in connection with the robberies in which 31 people were killed same day1 the police clarified the position of the federal prosector samuel ogundipe1 it is incumbent on the force to educate the writer of the story that the director of public prosecutions dpp of the federation in the legal advice did not restrain or restrict the force from investigating further the indictments against the senate president sen. bukola saraki and the governor of kwara state abdulfattah ahmed by the principal suspects arrested in connection with the offa bank robbery of 5april 20181 thedpp advice did not exonerate the senate president it only called for further investigations into the matter1 it is in the course of further investigations into the case that a letter of invitation dated 23july 2018 was sent to the senate president to appear on 24july 2018 at 8.00am before the investigation team at intelligence response team office guzape junction abuja1 consequently the force is hereby re-affirming that the senate president sen. bukola saraki has case to answer by virtue of the facts that the statements submitted by the senate president sen. bukola saraki earlier to the investigation team was not explicit and detailed enough and was discovered to require further clarifications and interrogation and coupled with the fact the senate president sen. bukola saraki in his statement claimed that the full text of the statement of the suspects who indic1 -
Cricketer Imran Khan on course to become Pakistans next PM
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imran is honest. he is a cool leader first-time voter ammar haider 20 told afp at a street celebration in islamabad1 pakistans former cricket hero imran khan is on his way to becoming the countrys next prime minister as results of wednesdays election trickled in thursday1 shahbaz sharif the leader of the muslim league-nawaz pml-n dismissed results as counting was still underway1 today what they have done has pushed pakistan back 30 years we reject this result sharif the brother of pakistans jailed ex-leader nawaz sharif told a press conference in lahore1 people will not bear it he added1 the election has been marred by widespread allegations of pre-poll meddling by the powerful military in favour of khan which saw the process dubbed pakistans dirtiest election1 as election workers sorted through massive piles of paper ballots other major parties including the pakistan peoples party ppp also alleged the count was being manipulated1 my candidates complaining polling agents have been thrown out of polling stations across the country tweeted ppp leader bilawal bhutto zardari adding inexcusable1 in a whatsapp message the pml-n also claimed that security forces had taken over polling stations1 the election commissions secretary babar yaqoob flatly denied allegations of vote count manipulation1 shortly before sharif spoke around midnight state television said that just one fifth of the votes had been counted so far an unusually slow count that further fuelled suspicions of rigging1 but yaqoob said the vote-counting system which he said was untested had crashed adding there is definitely no conspiracy no one wants to influence the results1 sharif vowed later via twitter to use all political and legal options for redressal of these glaring excesses adding that the party would meet on thursday to decide a way forward1 this is complete chaos analyst azeema cheema told afp1 too many parties are making the claim of rigging they are all saying the same things the established rules and procedures have not been followed the army has kicked their polling agents out of the polling booths and that they have been intimidated1 pti supporters were already celebrating in cities across the country including lahore islamabad multan karachi and rawalpindi with fireworks dancing and reports of celebratory gunfire1 however incumbent party has rejected the early election results and suggested blatant rigging1 wednesdays vote was meant to be a rare democratic transition of power in the populous but poor nuclear-armed muslim country which has been ruled by the armed forces for roughly half its history1 the contest largely became a two-way race between khans pakistan tehreek-e-insaf pti and the pml-n of ousted premier nawaz sharif whose brother shahbaz is leading its campaign1 bhutto son of slain prime minister benazir bhutto and his ppp could be called upon to form a coalition with any winner1 to form a majority government outright the contests winner would need to snatch 137 seats1 gallup pakistan estimated turnout at between 50 to 55 percent in an electorate of nearly 106 million similar to the previous contest in 20131 the most populous province of punjab which has 141 out of the 272 directly elected seats in the national assembly is a key battleground analysts have said1 some voters in lahore capital of punjab and traditionally a pml-n stronghold said they were abandoning the party in favour of pti1 i have voted for pml-n my whole life but this time i voted for pti because imran khan has promised free education and health said 75-year-old uzma akram1 up to 800000 police and troops were stationed at more than 85000 polling stations across the country after a string of attacks targeting political events in the final weeks of the campaign killed more than 180 people1 new pakistan1 khan 65 campaigned on populist promises to build a new pakistan and vowed to eradicate corruption clean up the environment and construct an islamic welfare state1 but his bid for power was dogged by widespread accusations he is benefiting from a silent coup by the generals1 the military has rejected the accusations1 election authorities granted military officers broad powers inside polling centres which further stirred fears of manipulation1 khan has also increasingly catered to hardline religious groups particularly over the inflammatory issue of blasphemy sparking fears a win for pti could embolden islamist extremists1 the pml-n says it is the target of the alleged military machinations. nawaz sharif was ousted from power last year and jailed over a corruption conviction days before the vote removing khans most dangerous rival1 -
Facebook shares crash as privacy rules bite
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reuters9 facebooks fortunes shifted in under two hours as the company first reported revenue and user growth that missed expectations and then issued warnings about future growth and expenses2 the company further warned that the toll would not be offset by revenue growth from emerging markets and facebooks instagram app which has been more immune from privacy concerns1 facebook incs shares lost as much as a quarter of their value on wednesday after executives said that profit margins would plummet for several years due to the costs of improving privacy safeguards and slowing usage in the biggest advertising markets1 operating profit margin which fell to 44 percent in the second quarter from 47 percent a year ago will sink to the mid-30s for more than two years chief financial officer david wehner said in investor guidance1 the plummeting stock price wiped out as much as 150 billion in market capitalization and erased the stocks gains since april when facebook announced a surprisingly strong 63 percent rise in profit and an increase in users1 if the share drop holds on thursday it would be facebooks largest single-day decline topping a 12 percent decrease in july 20121 nasdaq futures dropped 0.85 percent late on wednesday suggesting the technology-heavy nasdaq composite index would fall when trading opens on thursday morning. facebooks results prompted selling in other nasdaq listings including media and advertising rivals amazon.com inc netflix inc and alphabet inc1 entering a new period1 facebook had cautioned investors to expect a big jump in second-quarter costs because of efforts to address concerns about poor handling of users privacy and to better monitor what users post. total expenses in the second quarter surged to 7.4 billion up 50 percent compared with a year ago1 facebook forecast similar increases for the second half of the year also citing spending on video content and marketing1 its gloomy forecast for revenue growth surprised investors though and prompted many questions from financial analysts on a conference call with company executives on wednesday1 sales in the second quarter grew 42 percent its slowest pace in nearly three years to 13.2 billion compared with 9.3 billion a year ago1 wehner said quarterly revenue growth would be closer to 30 percent the rest of the year1 the second-quarter results were the first sign that a new european privacy law and a succession of privacy scandals involving cambridge analytica and other app developers have bit into facebooks business1 the general data protection regulation gdpr in the european union also will cause a revenue drop. the new privacy law forced several changes to facebooks privacy terms and sign-up process leading a minority of users to opt for non-personalized ads which tend to generate less revenue1 theyre talking about currency headwinds but more we think its due to slower user growth given gdpr and more focus on privacy morningstar analyst ali mogharabi said1 facebooks daily active users in europe declined by 3 million amid the new regulation. worldwide daily user growth for facebooks namesake service slid for its sixth straight quarter bringing it to nearly 1.5 billion users in the second quarter1 the company said for the first time that more than 2.5 billion users interact with at least one of its apps each month but analysts have said many of them are spending more time with messenger whatsapp and instagram. commercialization of those apps is nascent1 revenue from emerging markets has not picked up the slack either. sales from united states canada and europe fell 75 million in the second quarter compared with a year ago while revenue from other markets rose 51 million1 gene munster a venture capitalist at loup ventures said in an email that facebook is entering a new period where declining user growth will translate to slower revenue growth1 he added that facebook has a track record of resetting revenue growth and expense expectations only to turn around and exceed those expectations the following quarter1 facebook reported 5.1 billion in profit or 1.74 per share compared with the average estimates of 5.1 billion and 1.72 per share among research gathered by thomson reuters1 the threat of additional privacy regulatory setbacks remains a concern according to analysts1 facebook suffered a blow in china on wednesday when regulators there withdrew their approval of a company innovation hub to support local startups the new york times reported on wednesday citing a person familiar with the matter1 misinformation on whatsapp contributing to mob killings in india have added to the pressure on facebook to re-evaluate how its services maintain security and decorum1 nearly all social media services have received greater scrutiny since u.s. intelligence agencies in january 2017 revealed that organizations tied to the russian government had seeded content on the platform to shake up the 2016 u.s. presidential election1 he cited currency fluctuations and a shift in usage to features where facebook shows less advertising or charges less due to lower demand1 -
Dino Melaye in court, gets bail
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senator dino melaye was on wednesday arraigned before the abuja high court sitting in apo by the police and was granted bail in the sum of n5 million1 the lawmaker was arraigned on a six count charge of attempted suicide escape from custody and damage of police property1 the prosecution counsel mr. alex izinyonu said melaye escaped from police custody on april 24 2018 after he broke the glass on the second window of a bus belonging to the police using his left elbow1 the lawmaker was said to have jumped into a waiting vehicle an action which the police say amounted to an offence punishable under section 327 of the penal code law1 he explained that the defendant while being conveyed in a police vehicle to lokoja forced his way out of the bus and escaped1 melaye who represents kogi west senatorial zone denied committing the offences1 the trial judge justice silvanus oriji granted him bail in the sum of n5 million1 oriji also ordered melaye to produce two sureties in like sum as part of the bail condition1 the judge also ordered that the sureties must be directors in the civil service who are resident in the fct and depose to affidavits of means1 senator melaye is among the all progressives congress apc senators that recently defected to the opposition peoples democratic party pdp1 -
U.S. lawmakers threaten to impeach Rosenstein
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read more18 u.s. deputy attorney general rod rosenstein is in trouble as members of house of representatives on wednesday introduced five articles of impeachment against him1 the impeachment articles accuse rosenstein of intentionally withholding documents and information from congress failure to comply with congressional subpoenas and abuse of the foreign intelligence surveillance act fisa1 it was not immediately clear whether the house of representatives would consider the resolution before lawmakers begin the august recess thursday afternoon1 the house will reconvene sept. 41 the resolution states it will be referred to the committee meaning the judiciary committee for further review1 that language suggests the full house will not immediately consider the articles of impeachment1 eleven house republicans are spearheading the impeachment proceedings1 i just filed a resolution with @jimjordan and several colleagues to impeach rod rosenstein. the doj has continued to hide information from congress and repeatedly obstructed oversighteven defying multiple congressional subpoenas1 in an exclusive interview on fox news the ingraham angle on wednesday night meadows said it would be possible to effect a so-called privileged resolution on impeaching rosenstein as early as thursday morning which would require a vote within two days although the impending house recess would likely delay that vote unless it were held quickly1 both meadows and jordan told host laura ingraham the effort was long overdue1 for nine months weve asked for documents and thats all we want1 not only have subpoenas been ignored but information has been hidden efforts have been stonewalled meadows said1 weve caught the department of justice hiding information redacting information that they should not have redacted jordan charged adding that rosenstein had attempted to intimidate house staffers with subpoenas1 the articles were introduced by reps. mark meadows of north carolina and jim jordan of ohio the chairman and a prominent member of the conservative house freedom caucus1 -
Two to die for killing priest in Makurdi
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the makurdi high court has sentenced two persons to death for kidnapping and killing a former vicar-general of otukpo catholic diocese rev. john alexander adeyi1 the convicts are suleiman goma and haruna idi who were slammed with a six count charges1 the court says the convicts conspired and kidnapped adeiyi on april 26th 2016 and took him to okungaga forest in okpokwu area of the state where they demanded n2 million and eventually killed him after collecting a ransom of n1.5 million1 the trial judge justice andover kakaan said three guns including two pistols and a dane-gun as well as charms were recovered from the convicts in the forest where they committed the crime1 justice kakaan said that one of the two convicts in his statement which was tendered in court admitted that he bought the pistol for the purpose of committing armed robbery and kidnapping1 justice kakaan while delivering his judgement advised youths to desist from criminal act and engage in useful ventures1 reports say that decayed body of the priests was found behind the local government council secretariat obu otukpa1 -
PDP members sue Adeleke over certificate
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source63 the plaintiffs are also asking the court to grant an order restraining the pdp from presenting adelekes name to the independent national electoral commission inec for the september 22nd governorship poll2 the members are seeking that the court grant an interim order to set aside results of the governorship election that produced adeleke2 when the case came up for mention on wednesday july 25 the counsel for the applicants mr. mathew ayandokun prayed the court for an interim order setting aside the election of adeleke1 he also asked the court to stop the inec from accepting his nomination as the partys flag bearer1 ayandokun after the court hearing told journalists that his clients were challenging adeleke in court because he does not possess and has not produced his school leaving certificate1 the osun pdps governorship candidate sen. ademola adeleke has been dragged to court by some aggrieved members of the party for alleged non-possession of primary school certificate1 biri-omoni while addressing journalists insisted that his client has a certificate1 he added that it will be proper for him and his client to be put on notice and served with the necessary papers before coming to court1 justice david oladimeji adjourned ruling on the application till thursday july 261 adeleke a lawmaker representing osun west district in the national assembly during the primary held on saturday july 21 polled a total of 1569 votes to beat his closest rival dr akin ogunbiyi who scored 1562 votes1 adelekes lawyer mr. edmond biri-omoni however debunked the allegations1 -
Coach Salisu Yusuf caught on tape receiving bribe to field players
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watch the video3 the bbc has published a video showing nigerias top football coach salisu yusuf caught on camera taking cash from men posing as football agents to two nigerian players1 the footage was captured by controversial ghanaian journalist anas aremeyaw anas in september 2017 and is being broadcast for the first time by bbc africa eye1 yusuf was the first assistant to super eagles coach gernot rohr during the russian world cup. and he is due to lead the national team to the tokyo olympics in 20201 nigerias top football coach salisu yusuf has been caught on camera taking cash. the footage exposed here for the first time was captured by controversial ghanaian investigative journalist and recently handed to 1 bbc news africa @bbcafrica1 according to the video yusuf accepted 1000 from the men posing as football agents to field some unidentified two players1 in his response yusuf denied any wrongdoing. he said he did not demand any money and that what he was given 750 and not 1000 was a gift1 yusuf also said his selection of players for the african nations championshipchan 2018 was based on merit1 -
House in rowdy session as 37 members dump APC
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details shortly2 by ifeanyi nwokoeric james ochigbo1 thirty seven members of the house of representatives formerly in the fold of the all progressive congress apc has dumped the party and moved to the peoples democratic party pdp and african democratic congress adc1 the representatives in a letter to the speaker of the house of representatives yakubu dogara officially announced their defection during plenary on tuesday1 top on the list of the defectors is the chairman committee on rules and business rep. emmanuel orker-jev benue1 of the 37 defectors 33 went to the pdp while four others from oyo state moved to adc1 other prominent members who dumped the apc includesani rano barry mpigi ali madaki dickson tackighir hassan saleh danburam nuhu mark gbilah razak atunwa ahmed garba bichi abdulsamad dasuk and zakari mohammed1 this is coming after 15 senators in the senate dumped the apc for pdp1 the defection in the house of representatives threw the chamber into a rowdy session as the remaining members of the apc in the house staged a walkout from plenary to address newsmen1 -
Secondus, Atiku decry siege on Saraki, Ekweremadus homes
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similarly a former vice president atiku abubakar in a statement by his media office also called for stop to the persecution of national assembly leadership1 the national chairman peoples democratic party pdp mr uche secondus has condemned tuesday morning security siege on the abuja residences of senate president bukola saraki and his deputy ike ekweremadu1 he said that directorate of state services dss army and the police had attacked the national assembly with the aim of forcibly overthrowing its leadership and rendering it comatose1 the senate president dr bukola saraki his deputy ike ekweremadu and other distinguished senators are currently under severe assault from security agencies1 it is now a known fact that democracy have now collapsed in nigeria and we are now under a totalitarian and fascist government with no appetite for opposition secondus said1 he called on all nigerians home and abroad to immediately speak up against the act he described as gross violation of the constitution of nigeria1 the chairman also called on all traditional rulers in nigeria the international community and all well-meaning nigerians to rise against the antics to forestall possible derailment of democracy saying the time to act is now1 secondus in a statement issued on tuesday in abuja described the development as attack on democracy using state security apparatus1 the news of the siege on the residences of the senate president bukola saraki and his deputy ike ekweremadu is both troubling and unsettling1 no democratic nation ought to treat the leadership of its parliament like common criminals in the course of a political disagreement1 i remind the powers that be that on aug. 31 2013 when sen. bukola saraki walked out of the pdp and began the process of joining the all progressives congress there was celebration in their camps1 i also remind them that their electoral victory which they have so badly mismanaged today would not have been possible without the senate president1 power is transient and is also a trust that should only be used for the good and advancement of the people one leads and not for the persecution of real and imagined political opponents1 i therefore call for the lifting of the sieges on the persons and homes of saraki and his deputy ekweremadu by security forces1 abubakar urged president muhammadu buhari to live up to his words after sarakis ordeal which was brought to a halt by the supreme court1