Governors can pay N30,000 minimum wage: Oshiomhole
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reported by6 national chairman of the all progressives congress apc comrade adams oshiomhole has said that nigerian government can afford living wage for workers if stealing of public money is curbed1 oshiomhole a former trade union leader said as a governor he told his colleagues that payment of salaries was no burden but a means of enhancing the development potential of the state1 he said that the countrys major problem is stealing of public resources1 the former nigeria labour congress nlc president spoke on a television programme1 his position is in clear contrast with that of state governors who claimed they could not pay a national minimum wage of n30000 being proposed unless they downsized the staff force1 as a governor oshiomhole paid edo workers a minimum of n25000 which was n7000 above the national minimum1 my views are clear that payment of wages is not an act of kindness for an employer to pay the employees wages at the end of the month. even the holy bible says that the labourer is entitled to its wages oshiomhole said1 he said non-payment of salaries by governors creates a vicious circle leading to low production and eventual loss of jobs1 and even the deductions from states that was done under the pdp in the name of settling our foreign debts they went into state treasury and they over deducted that was done under the pdp. but under president muhammadu buharis government even in spite of the huge financial challenges that he faces decided that in order to assist the states to meet up with their social obligations to begin to pay what is now referred to as paris club refund1 he has done that two three instalments and each time the governors are told that you must use this money among other things to settle pension arrears and be up to date in the payment of salaries1 but i am very proud that this president has rich conscience he recognises that the nigerian worker deserves his wages and that is why he has publicly lamented that there are governors who have not paid salaries as at when due whether they are pdp or apc it is immaterial. and in seeking to deal with it he has also provided support across party divide and i think that is statesmanship at its best1 as for my views on the minimum wage i tried to deal with it as a governor. i told my colleagues then that wage is not a burden in the society. in economics when people work and get paid purchasing power is enhanced and because purchasing power is enhanced producers will respond to that by seeking to produce more goods and services. and in the process they will recruit more hands1 my being in government or now chairman of a party cannot change what i believe in1 the real problem in the public sector is money being stolen in the name of salaries i find it embarrassing when we talk about ghost workers. and i ask the question who counts ghosts. it is only in nigeria that ghosts are known1 i think again this is where president buhari stands out clearly. he has publicly asked public sector employers how do you sleep when you have not paid your employers for one year. but he did not stop at lamenting it he went on to provide the much- talked about bailout fund and said please use this money to pay your workers and pay pension arrears1

Buhari will win in 2019: US Institute
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reported by6 many nigerians feel their hopes have not been met. some respondents suggest the electorate is sufficiently disappointed that voter apathy will be greater in 2019 than in 2015 with the unifying narrative of change that helped elect the apc in 2015 much less compelling as a factor in mobilising the electorate and perceptions that another defeat of the presidential incumbent is less likely to happen in 2019 the report read1 comparing the 2015 elections to the forthcoming one the report said there is a greater chance of the occurrence of election violence listing adamawa anambra ekiti kaduna kano lagos plateau rivers as the eight of 36 states with greater risks of election violence1 given the relative success of the 2015 elections they felt that inec ought to be able to deliver credible elections again in 2019. they feared however that any regression from the level of performance achieved in 2015 could lead to violence because some would view the failings not as a result of incompetence but as deliberate attempts to frustrate the will of the voters1 inec should at least match the standards it set in 2015 and any regression could set the stage for violence1 yet while the potential for election violence exists there are signs of hope. some states have developed successful election conflict-mitigation practices. in the short amount of time remaining inec and the police should undertake a number of key reforms it said1 the united states along with other international supporters of the electoral process should also intensify their efforts to reinforce the work of these key nigerian institutions1 beyond institutional support rather than apply a conventional approach to electoral violence mitigation donor programming should adapt to nigerias current context political shifts and opportunities and be sufficiently flexible to respond to the risks distinct in each of nigerias states1 in advance of the election international diplomatic efforts to preempt electoral violence need to be intensified. regional and international actors should convey their expectations that political parties effectively address their internal disputes and be ready to put on notice politicians responsible for escalating these disputes1

PDP Primary: Dankwambo beats Atiku, Saraki, Kwankwaso
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reported by6 dankwambo garnered 68 per cent of all votes cast. a total 17925 twitter users participated in the poll which lasted about seven hours1 the poll which was conducted by dailytrust a national newspaper also featured atiku abubakar bukola saraki and rabiu kwankwaso who had received most votes in various previously conducted polls1 the poll asked who is the best candidate for @officialpdpnig [pdp] atiku and saraki coming second place had a total of 11 per cent while kwankwaso staggered behind with a slightly lower percentage of 10 per cent1 dankwambo 56 years-old and an accountant is a two-term governor of gombe state1 in august he declared an intention to contest in the 2019 presidential election under the umbrella of the peoples democratic party pdp1 this he said is to enable him consolidate on the gains of democracy and save the country from hunger and starvation1 other presidential contenders in the pdp at the convention now underway in port harcourt include aminu tambuwwal sule lamido kabiru turaki attahiru bafarawa datti baba-ahmed ahmed makarfi jonah jang and david mark1

Oshiomhole supports Sanwo-Olus candidacy for Lagos
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reported by6 all progressives congress apc national chairman adams oshiomhole has dismissed fears that tuesdays governorship primary in lagos state which produced babajide sanwo-olu as candidate was controversial1 speaking at the presidential villa after a meeting with president muhammadu buhari the former edo state governor said i told the president that the primaries held as planned and everything is being done to ensure there is no violence because democracy doesnt flourish with violence1 nigerians must begin to learn how to differ in opinion and in choice without fighting this is something people have to acquire over time1 for me im excited that if we can do it in lagos it can be done anywhere1 everything that is being done is done under the control supervision and direction of the nwc1 in lagos the clement ebri election committee said the exercise did not receive its blessing because the conditions prescribed were not followed1 party chairman tunde balogun rejected the committees verdict saying the election was free and fair1 leaders of the party including asiwaju bola tinubu deputy governor idiat adebule speaker mudashiru obasa commissioners aspirant babajide sanwo-olu and party members who turned out in large numbers participated in the election1 but governor akinwunmi ambode who was in his hometown epe for the primary remained indoors1 reporters who accompanied him to epe were asked to leave for lagos shortly before 11a.m1 ebri said at about 4.30 pm when he addressed the media was just ready for the primary1 he said he had contacted the apc national secretariat for further directives1 we are ready to give the state the most credible election. it is not our fault that this exercise took this long. in some states primary has been moved to thursday1 we were waiting for the lagos state party chairman to provide certain information that will enable us post people to the wards. we have two aspirants and we needed to be fair to both parties. the information we demanded for came in about an hour ago. and we had to struggle this period to balance the equation ebri said adding1 he said the party leadership was in control of the shadow election1 the national secretariat advised us to use ballot papers and we came into lagos with thousands of them. but during the stakeholders meeting it became obvious that the state chapter of the party wasnt ready for such primary. they claimed that there was no time to educate the members and others. and based on the submission made at the stakeholders meeting some changes were made1 and we were advised to conduct the open ballot in a manner that would be objective to all parties. and that is one of the adjustments we made to accommodate views of the stakeholders1 we had a session with representatives of both aspirants here at about 8 am. and we asked that they should bring names of their representatives that would be used for the exercise. but the names didnt arrive early from both parties1 ebri went on because of the political tension in the state we decided to be very careful very methodical and very meticulous in doing it. as party men peace is very important to us than victory we want victory that will be celebrated by both parties we want victory that will be credible a victory that will be in line with the guidelines and extant rules and laws in this country. we are ready to go to the field and execute this in clinical fashion1 lagos is a flagship of apc and must continue to remain so for years to come and so in conducting anything that has to do with lagos we have to do it with a lot of circumspection and objectivity and it should be a showpiece for the rest of the country1 displaying the result sheets the panel chairman said it was in impeccable condition and not one single sheet is missing and it is not possible for this committee to do any other thing than it has been instructed to do1 we have guidelines and we will stick to those guidelines to be sure that we are fair to both parties1 balogun insisted that the primary was devoid of violence and therefore credible1 he said the agents of the two parties were present at the wards where the election took place and that the independent national electoral commission inec and election observers witnessed the exercise1 the election took place simultaneously in all the 245 wards. some of our members were visible in the local governments. for example our national leader asiwaju bola ahmed tinubu was at ikeja his own ward1 he took part in the election and we saw the results. the results have been signed by the agents of the two aspirants. those results were credible because the inec too were there and they all signed. we were all witnesses to the conduct of the election. there were no violence no chaos it was free fair and transparent1 asked whether any member of the nwc panel members was there he said what i know is that i did not go round the wards. the venue i went to i saw some observers apart from the agents and inec. they were publicly conducted constitutionally done and i think we will leave the rest for the people and the press . that is why we have to wait for the committee charged with the responsibility to announce the results. we are not to announce the results1 some women from shomolubariga who protested at the ikeja hotel where the panel members addressed the media complained that they were not allowed to vote in their wards because they are known supporters of governor ambode1 we have five persons from the local organising committee and four for each ward. they will all go out to ensure the primary is conducted. we all understand the terrain in the state especially as it concerns the traffic situation. so the materials are available now and ready for deployment1

Ostapenko books Miami final with Stephens
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reported by6 french open champion jelena ostapenko will meet us open champion sloane stephens in the miami open final after putting a decisive end to american qualifier danielle collins dream run1 the 20 year-old latvian needed just two sets and just under two hours to defeat collins 7-61 6-3 and become the youngest player to reach the miami final since 2009 when 19-year-old victoria azarenka claimed the title1 her opponent collins came into the matchup having already played almost 12 hours of tennis in miami alone battling through two rounds of qualifying to bring her total of matches to seven. along the way shes knocked out the likes of childhood hero and no.8 seed venus williams as well as coco vandeweghe and monica puig putting together a fairytale run into the semifinals1 but she finally met her match in latvian powerhouse ostapenko who notched wins over no.9 seed petra kvitova and no.4 elina svitolina in to register multiple top 10 wins in the same tournament for the first time in her career1 the match will be played at 18.00 nigerian time on saturday1 but despite the pressure it was the latvian who broke first getting ahead with a break to love at 3-1 on a sloppy collins service game. collins was undaunted and kept apace with ostapenkos heavy hitting the gambit worked and she broke straight back to level the score1 the pair stayed toe-to-toe as they marched into the first set tiebreak. here it was ostapenko who has yet to lose a tiebreak here in miami that rose to the occasion extending that record against collins. she played almost perfect tennis to snap up four points in a row and allow her opponent just one point closing it out 7-11 ostapenko carried the momentum into the second set starting off with a break right away. although collins was able to create seven break chances in the first set converting two she wasnt able to make a dent at all on the ostapenko serve in the second set. instead the big-hitting latvian bracketed the set with another break of serve to finish closing out the match after an hour and 41 minute battle1 through to the final without dropping a set the win guarantees ostapenko will reach a new career-high ranking come monday jumping up one spot to world no.4. i think now im playing more consistent and im just really happy to be hereshe said1 ostapenko found herself under pressure from the get-go against collins gutsy tennis. the american was crushing the returns and brought up five break opportunities in ostapenkos first two service games alone pushing her to deuce seven times1

Porn star Daniels offers to return Trumps $130,000
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reported by6 porn actress stormy daniels on monday offered to return the 130000 she received from president trumps attorney michael cohen in an effort to fully void the 2016 hush agreement that has prevented her from speaking publicly about her alleged 2006 sexual tryst with trump1 in a letter addressed to cohen which was obtained by the new york times daniels lawyer michael avenatti wrote that she would wire the money into an account of mr. trumps choosing by friday in exchange of nullifying the agreement of silence daniels took1 avenatti outlined that if the offer was accepted daniels could a speak openly and freely about her prior relationship with the president and the attempts to silence her and b use or publish any text messages photos andor videos relating to the president that she may have in her possession all without fear of retribution and legal liability for damages1 the deal also stipulated that if accepted the 60 minutes interview daniels taped last week with anderson cooper would be allowed to air without blocking efforts from the trump camp1 with a noon tuesday deadline the letter will essentially bait cohen into a choice between letting daniels talk freely about her alleged trump affair or publicly confirm that a silencing campaign had been in effect1 avenatti told the daily beast that he has yet to hear from cohen or anyone from the trump legal team1