16 people gun for Sarakis Kwara senate seat
News & Trends •
read more in7 senate president bukola saraki has an uphill battle on his hand to save his kwara central senatorial seat as he faces a poll contest with 16 other candidates four of whom are women1 his rivals in the february 16 2019 election will include the candidates of all progressives congress apc and africa democratic congress adc as well as those of 14 other political parties1 the four women seeking the kwara central senatorial seat with saraki are abubakar khadijat akanni of mpn okanlawon adekunle taiwo of gpn abdulwaheed mariam titilayo of adp and abdulsalam kuburat of lp1 other candidates for the seat are a former member of the state house of assembly dr yahaya oloriegbe apc abdurahman garuba ap ambali mujaheed acpn babatunde sambo sdp abdulraheem abubakar adc and mohammed saidu of peoples trust pt1 in kwara north alhaji sodiq umar of the apc will slug it out with zakari mohammed of pdp while governor abdulfatah ahmed of pdp and architect lola ashiru of apc are the frontline candidates in kwara south1 on the list for oyo south senatorial district were the incumbent senator adesoji akanbi who is running on the platform of the african democratic congress adc and the incumbent governor senator abiola ajimobi who is running on the platform of the all progressives congress apc1 akanbi was elected on the apc platform in 2015. he defected to adc in september when he discovered that governor ajimobi had obtained the form for his seat. while he hails from ibadan north west local government area ajimobi hails from ibadan south west local government area1 also contending for the same seat from the peoples democratic party pdp is mr adebayo lawal while mr fola akinosun is angling for it on the platform of african democratic party adp1 in oyo central district former senate leader teslim folarin of apc will slug it out with the incumbent senator monsurat sunmonu. the latter was also elected on the platform of the apc in 2015 but defected to adc recently. folarin picked the apc ticket this time. he defected from the pdp earlier in the year1 according to details published by the independent national electoral commission inecsaraki will fly the flag of the peoples democratic party in the election. the last time he contested in 2015 he ran on the all progressives congress platform1 in oyo north the incumbent senator fatai buhari of apc will slug it out with pdps hon. mulikat akande-adeola adcs adeleke lawal adebayo and adps ahmed salawudeen. akande-adeola is a former majority leader house of representatives1 with some of the political juggernauts racing for the same seat the 2019 senatorial election in oyo state promises to be very interesting1 also on the new inecs list for the senatorial race are deputy senate president ike ekweremadu enugu west imo state governor rochas okorocha imo west and former minister of state for works dayo adeyeye ekiti south among others1 ekweremadus opponents in enugu west include juliet ibekaku-nwagwu apc ken onyekaonwu upp ozoani chinedu jmpp philomena agu sdp gbazueagu nweke gbazueagu apga walter oji adc anayo ononugbo green party of nigeria and charles aninweze nac1 the main candidates that will battle it out in enugu north are incumbent senator chuka utazi pdp former enugu state house of assembly speaker eugene odo apc hope ubulu upp samuel omenihu gdpn nwokolo chuka mega party and eze simon chukwuma ccpc while former enugu governor chimaroke nnamani pdp will face lawrence eze apc ibiyemi akanji ariyo gdpn okafor doree ijeoma kowa eze mark anthony sdp in enugu east1 ekiti north senatorial district olubunmi adetunmbi apc duro faseyi pdp1 ekiti central opeyemi bamidele apc obafemi adewale pdp1 ekiti south dayo adeyeye apc mrs. biodun olujimi pdp1 the pdp has the following as its candidates for the house of representatives elections kehinde agboola ekiti north 1 akin awodumila ekiti south 2 mr. segun adekola ekiti south 1 mr ayo oladimeji ekiti central bisi kolawole ekiti central 2 and sola omotoso ekiti north 2 while the apc will be fielding peter owolabi ekiti north 1 ibrahim olarewaju ekiti north 2 sola fatoba ekiti central 1 mrs. omowumi ogunlola ekiti central 2 yemi adaramodu ekiti south 1 and former ekiti house of assembly speaker1 pdp fielded mr oyebisi ilaka while adp fielded the current member house of representatives for lageluakinyele federal constituency hon. olatoye temitope subaru1

Atiku gets yellow card over Peter Obi
News & Trends •
read more in7 the peoples democratic party presidential candidate atiku abubakar was yellow-carded tuesday by the northern youth leaders forum over his choice of former governor peter obi as running mate2 the youths tabled their demand at a meeting on monday with former president olusegun obasanjo now atikus godfather2 they asked atiku to review the choice of obi if he hopes to earn the norths support2 the group which prides itself as the apex body of 46 youth organisations in the north threatened to mobilise its over six million members against the pdp and its presidential candidate if atiku failed to take its advice2 the national chairman of the group comrade elliot afiyo who spoke on tuesday in abeokuta the ogun state capital after a meeting with former president olusegun obasanjo on monday night claimed that the body had been instrumental to the electoral victories of successive presidents since 1999. it claimed to have played a major role in incumbent president muhammadu buharis victory and it also played a critical role in the reconciliation between atiku and obasanjo2 according to afiyo the group had equally intimated the former president of their position on atikus running mate2 the group sent atiku a dire message drop obi or lose2 afiyo said obis choice was causing friction in the southeast which is largely responsible for the impending defection of the deputy senate president ike ekweremandu from the pdp2 he added that obi is strongly viewed as anti-north and a major sponsor of the indigenous people of biafra ipob2 according to him over 70 percent of emirs and other traditional rulers in the north will not support atikus choice of running mate and maintained that pdp will fail to produce the next president if the party eventually flies the atikuobi ticket2 afiyo advised pdp to pick atikus running mate from south south. he suggested that either rivers state governor nyesom wike or his bayelsa state counterpart seriake dickson should be considered2 afiyo said atiku is an experienced politician and he knows what happened and as a northern nigerian he cannot ignore that group. i have spoken to almost all the southeast governors and they told me that they remained in pdp because of their governorship elections and after their governorship elections they will vote somewhere not pdp2 and for us to ignore the stakeholders it is political suicide so we must agree with that fact. that was what we told obasanjo yesterday that as far as we want atiku to succeed he has no alternative than to drop peter obi and with the contention between peter obis group and ike ekweremadus group it is not politically convenient again to pick a running mate from the southeast2 it was not immediately clear yesterday what obasanjo who has just ended a long feud with atiku and endorsed him told the youths2

Atiku gets yellow card over Peter Obi
News & Trends •
read more in7 the peoples democratic party presidential candidate atiku abubakar was yellow-carded tuesday by the northern youth leaders forum over his choice of former governor peter obi as running mate2 the youths tabled their demand at a meeting on monday with former president olusegun obasanjo now atikus godfather2 they asked atiku to review the choice of obi if he hopes to earn the norths support2 the group which prides itself as the apex body of 46 youth organisations in the north threatened to mobilise its over six million members against the pdp and its presidential candidate if atiku failed to take its advice2 the national chairman of the group comrade elliot afiyo who spoke on tuesday in abeokuta the ogun state capital after a meeting with former president olusegun obasanjo on monday night claimed that the body had been instrumental to the electoral victories of successive presidents since 1999. it claimed to have played a major role in incumbent president muhammadu buharis victory and it also played a critical role in the reconciliation between atiku and obasanjo2 according to afiyo the group had equally intimated the former president of their position on atikus running mate2 the group sent atiku a dire message drop obi or lose2 afiyo said obis choice was causing friction in the southeast which is largely responsible for the impending defection of the deputy senate president ike ekweremandu from the pdp2 he added that obi is strongly viewed as anti-north and a major sponsor of the indigenous people of biafra ipob2 according to him over 70 percent of emirs and other traditional rulers in the north will not support atikus choice of running mate and maintained that pdp will fail to produce the next president if the party eventually flies the atikuobi ticket2 afiyo advised pdp to pick atikus running mate from south south. he suggested that either rivers state governor nyesom wike or his bayelsa state counterpart seriake dickson should be considered2 afiyo said atiku is an experienced politician and he knows what happened and as a northern nigerian he cannot ignore that group. i have spoken to almost all the southeast governors and they told me that they remained in pdp because of their governorship elections and after their governorship elections they will vote somewhere not pdp2 and for us to ignore the stakeholders it is political suicide so we must agree with that fact. that was what we told obasanjo yesterday that as far as we want atiku to succeed he has no alternative than to drop peter obi and with the contention between peter obis group and ike ekweremadus group it is not politically convenient again to pick a running mate from the southeast2 it was not immediately clear yesterday what obasanjo who has just ended a long feud with atiku and endorsed him told the youths2

Kola Abiola: Jonathan thrice rejected GCFR for MKO
News & Trends •
read more in7 former president goodluck jonathan thrice rebuffed suggestions he bestow the grand commander of the order of the federal republic honour onchief mko abiola1 he said jonathan rejected the suggestion for political reasons1 according to mkos son he first approached the then attorney-general of the federation mohammed adoke san to honour his father during the centenary celebration in january 2014 but a gold award was given to the deceased which was rejected by the family1 kola said during his second attempt he wrote a letter to jonathan through the serving overseer of the latter rain assembly pastor tunde bakare during the build-up to the 2015 elections but nothing was done1 he said even after jonathan had lost and was preparing to leave office he made another attempt to get him to honour mko but it failed again1 kola abiola said towards the election i approached them again this time in writing and solicited the help of pastor bakare and told them that even if it was for selfish political reasons this was something you could do to help your chances of winning elections1 i really didnt mind how he got it done. but we couldnt get president jonathan to get it done so we left that1 mr. kola abiola the eldest son of the winner of the june 12 1993 presidential election chief mko abiola made the revelation in a channels tv interview broadcast on thursday night1 abiolas son said after president muhammadu buhari took office he sent a letter through pastor bakare again to take to the president who was in kaduna at the time1 he said buhari bought into the idea and exceeded the expectations of the abiola family as he did not only honour the deceased with the highest title in the land but also issued an apology to his family on behalf of the federal government1 kola noted that he did not approach former president olusegun obasanjo to honour his father because he felt there was no point doing so as the answer would have been obvious1 he however said he approached the late president umaru yaradua who promised to address the issue but died in office1 when asked his view on jonathans naming of the university of lagos as moshood abiola university lagos kola said that was a mistake. they were trying to regionalise mko. he was beyond that. this man was voted across nigeria irrespective of religion1 i went back to them and told them if they had consulted me i would have told them what to do1 after he lost the election i approached him a second time also through the same pastor bakare to try to get him to do this as a legacy of his presidency something that nigerians would never forget about him. last minute we couldnt get it to happen1

Rwanda shuts 700 churches
News & Trends •
read more in7 rwanda has shut 714 churches in different parts of kigali over the last one week for failure to meet minimum standards2 the crackdown is being carried out by respective urban district authorities in partnership with the rwanda governance board the newspaper said2 justus kangwagye the head of political parties and civil society department at the rwanda governance board said places of worship are required to meet basic requirements in terms of safety hygiene infrastructure and legality which those affected were found to be lacking2 kangwagye said most of the affected places of worship were asked to halt operations until they meet the expected standards2 worshiping should be done in an organised way and meet minimum standards. exercising your freedom of worship should not encroach on other peoples rights. they have been asked to halt operations until they meet the requirements he said2 some may not be able to resume operations any time soon he said2 new times of rwanda reported that the churches were found to lack basic infrastructure hygiene safety standards and had issues related to their legal status2 for instance if the infrastructure is deemed likely to cause danger to those worshiping it is obvious that it fails to meet the requirements he explained2 others were found to have inadequacies such as lack of parking lots which would lead to their members parking by the roadsides and causing traffic jam2 other churches which were closed operated from tents2 churches that are hosted in tents were also asked to review their premises before they can continue their operations. as for hygiene and sanitation you cannot have a gathering where there is no water for washing hands no toilets among other issues he said2 others he added were warned on the lack of safety and security installations and asked to look into it or risk closure2 kangwagye explained that setting up a church requires a temporary certificate which expires after 12 months2 kangwagye said some premises exposed worshipers to risks2

Rwanda shuts 700 churches
Sports •
read more in7 rwanda has shut 714 churches in different parts of kigali over the last one week for failure to meet minimum standards2 the crackdown is being carried out by respective urban district authorities in partnership with the rwanda governance board the newspaper said2 justus kangwagye the head of political parties and civil society department at the rwanda governance board said places of worship are required to meet basic requirements in terms of safety hygiene infrastructure and legality which those affected were found to be lacking2 kangwagye said most of the affected places of worship were asked to halt operations until they meet the expected standards2 worshiping should be done in an organised way and meet minimum standards. exercising your freedom of worship should not encroach on other peoples rights. they have been asked to halt operations until they meet the requirements he said2 some may not be able to resume operations any time soon he said2 new times of rwanda reported that the churches were found to lack basic infrastructure hygiene safety standards and had issues related to their legal status2 for instance if the infrastructure is deemed likely to cause danger to those worshiping it is obvious that it fails to meet the requirements he explained2 others were found to have inadequacies such as lack of parking lots which would lead to their members parking by the roadsides and causing traffic jam2 other churches which were closed operated from tents2 churches that are hosted in tents were also asked to review their premises before they can continue their operations. as for hygiene and sanitation you cannot have a gathering where there is no water for washing hands no toilets among other issues he said2 others he added were warned on the lack of safety and security installations and asked to look into it or risk closure2 kangwagye explained that setting up a church requires a temporary certificate which expires after 12 months2 kangwagye said some premises exposed worshipers to risks2

Naomi Campbell dating Adenuga
Sports •
read more in7 its now official supermodel naomi campbell is off the market. and she is dating britishmusician skepta whose real name is joseph junior adenuga1 there had been rumour about their relationship but naomi 47 confirmed it via an instagram post on thursday when she shared a gq cover featuring her and her beau cuddled close while wearing nothing but jewelry1 skepta is the first man naomi has beenlinked tosince egyptian millionaire louis c. camilleri in july 2017 the mail online reported1 born joseph junior adenuga on september 19 1982 skepta is an english rapper songwriter and producer. although he was born in northlondon his parents are nigerian immigrants1 he is 15 years younger than the fashion icon1 skeptas second album microphone champion followed in 2009. both albums were independent releases. by the time his third album doin it again was released in 2011 he had signed with aatw1 skepta didnt begin to really draw attention until his fourth album however. the project titled konnichiwa was released in may 2016. it won him a mercury prize. since gaining notoriety hes collaborated and performed with major names in the music business like flatbush zombies wizkid anddrakekanye westand more1 the rapper has four siblings two of whom music aficionados may be familiar with. his one brother is a grime rapper called jme. skepta has another sibling julie adenuga whos a dj on beats 11 in addition to musical pursuits skepta founded a clothing company called mains. the brand dropped its first line in june 20171 he made his musical debut in 2007 with the release of his cleverly titled album greatest hits1