The Lagos-Ibadan standard rail line would be commission in December, transport minister Rotimi Amaechi gave the assurance in Lagos on Thursday.

After a closed door meeting with Gov.Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, Amaechi thanked members of the communities whose property were affected by the construction.

He said the contractors handling the project would commence work on the Lagos axis next week on both the standard gauge lines.

The minister said the Lagos State Government had been very helpful in the payment of compensation to those affected.

The federal government, he said, was looking for private partnership to build the two mega Stations in Lagos.

He said that the one at Apapa and the other at Ebute-Meta would be expanded to accommodate a mall and hotel.

Amaechi said discussions were also on with the contractor handling the narrow gauge lines.

He explained that newly awarded contract for Tin Can-Oworonshoki-Ojota road would also aid in evacuating cargoes from the Ports in addition to the two rail lines which would both terminate at the Apapa seaport.

Host Ambode thanked the Federal Government as well as the Minister of Works, Power and Housing for expediting action described the efforts being made as a two-prong approach to ease the Apapa gridlock.

He reiterated the State Governments commitment to collaborate with the Federal Government on the project as it would alleviate the sufferings of the people.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that both the Federal and the State Governments have been making concerted efforts in the last few weeks to find lasting solutions to the traffic gridlock which had caused a lock down on both businesses and private activities in the Apapa axis.(NAN)

Source: NAN

An Indiana familys pet pig has thwarted the plans of some thieves who attempted to break into the home of its owner.

Indianapolis Police said the attempted burglary on the citys east side Tuesday may have been unsuccessful after the would-be thieves came across the familys fearless pig.

The officers were guessing when the thieves broke in they were probably surprised I had a pig and were like, We dont want to deal with this.

The cop was like, we definitely think they got in and made it to where Dumplin was and thought, Nope. We dont want no part of this, the homeowner, who asked not to be identified, told FOX59.

The intruders didnt steal anything from the home, but ruined the back door after smashing it in, according to the homeowner.

The incident was one of three home burglaries in the neighborhood on the same day.

Dumplins owner also said she was just relieved the full-grown pig didnt get hurt during the incident, and said she wishes more people would adopt pet pigs even if they wont always keep criminals away.

There are tons of pigs in shelters that dont have homes and theyre great animals, she said.

Source: NAN

By Taiye Elebiyo-Edeni

Mr Fidet Okhiria, Managing Director, Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), said the web-based ticketing for railway services in the country will commence in September.

Okhiria said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.

He said that NRC was at the final stage of the web-based ticketing after completing the technical and commercial process, saying that its a Public Private Partnership (PPP), arrangement to provide the infrastructure.

According to him, eight bidders have so far expressed their interests in the web-based ticketing and the winner will be selected this week to complete the whole process.

Before September or October we will go online, so that people can buy their tickets online, we want to make sure that the arrangement is secure, and that is why we are taking our time.

We also have NRC app that you can download on play store; we are going to that stage very soon.

Also by September, people can buy their tickets online from their respective homes; we are trying to have many vendors.

Okhiria, however, said that his focused for 2018 was to have an improved locomotives output with the arrival of the spare parts that was ordered in 2017 which would boost the reliability.

The NRC boss attributed the poor movement of haulage by rail to inadequate rolling stock and locomotives liability, which is low compared with the demand.

He said a large number of haulage can be moved by rail when the tracks are worked on, with enough rolling stock and locomotives to meet up with the high demand.

NAN recalls that the corporation had received a lot of complaints from passengers on racketeering by officials, which Okhiria said the only solution was the web-based ticketing.

Source: NAN

Zimbabwes presidential election results will be announced at 11.00pm today(Nigerian time), Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Commissioner Dr Qhubani Moyo has said.

Moyo made the announcement at the National Election Results Centre in Harare where ZEC is regularly announcing election results for Senate, Provincial Council and Proportionate Representative.

In the parliamentary election results already announced, the ruling ZANU-PF has won more than two-thirds majority, clinching 144 seats out of the 207 constituencies whose results were announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

The seven-party MDC Alliance managed only 61 seats, with the Mugabe project, the National Patriotic Front (NPF), winning one seat.

Only one independent candidate, Mr Temba Mliswa, won. He retained his Norton seat.

In 2013, the ruling Zanu-PF won 160 seats to the then MDC-Ts 49 with one seat going to the MDC then led by Professor Welshman Ncube who is now an MDC-Alliance principal.

Zanu-PF dominated its traditional strongholds of Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East, Masvingo, Midlands, Matabeleland South and Manicaland provinces.

In Mashonaland Central Province, the ruling party made a clean sweep of all 18 constituencies.

It also made significant headway in opposition strongholds such as Bulawayo, where it snatched Bulawayo South.

Despite losing the parliamentary election, the opposition MDC Alliance has been claiming victory in the presidential election after accusing the ZEC of tampering with the result.

MDC presidential candidate, Nelson Chamisa had claimed in a tweet early on Tuesday that he won resoundingly, a claim justified by the verdict given by voters only in Harare and Bulawayo. The results from other parts of the country were not so good for MDC Alliance.

MDCs claim and protests against alleged vote rigging in Harare on Wednesday led to a clash with the army and police. Three persons were reportedly killed.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has sent condolences to the families of the victims of the violence, which he said was orchestrated by MDC.

I wish to extend my sincere condolences to the families of the victims of yesterdays violence, he said.

All human life is sacred, and their deaths are a tragedy, irrespective of the circumstances. I would like to also wish a speedy recovery to all those injured in yesterdays events. They, alongside the families of the victims, are in my thoughts and prayers at this difficult time. The most important thing for us now is to move beyond yesterdays tragic events, and to move forward, together..

Source: NAN

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has honoured some of the rebels of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who defected to its fold as heroes of democracy.

The National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, addressed the defectors at the glitzy Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja, where he described them as true heroes of democracy.

Secondus said that the defectors took the bold steps of switching allegiance from the APC to the PDP not only for themselves, for their families, but also for the interest of the country.

This is a selfless effort but because it has something to do about our nation with about 200 million people.

They took this decision because they cannot continue to sit and watch what is happening in our country today.

We need to honour them. They are heroes of democracy. Their decision is to defend our democracy.

Secondus reminded the defectors it is going to be a long walk to freedom.

He gave the assurance that the PDP would conduct free primaries that would be the hallmark of democracy in Nigeria.

Secondus especially commended the National Assembly members for opening the door of defection to the party.

He called on people yet to make up their minds about defecting to PDP to do so, while assuring them of level playing field in the PDP.

We have assured you before. We are reassuring you that everything will be in your favour.

Sen. Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West Senatorial District, spoke on behalf of the one dozen senators, who left the APC.

Melaye, who was also a former member of the party, commended the PDP leadership for welcoming them back.

He claimed that more senators would be joining the PDP in next coming weeks.

Mr. Bode Ayorinde, representing Owo/Ose Federal Constituency, Ondo State, spoke on behalf of members of the House of Representatives.

He said they decided to rejoin the PDP because they saw it as rebranded party.

Ayorinde said contrary to views that they left APC because there was no money to share, they joined the PDP to put an end to hunger,
poverty, killings and dictatorship in Nigeria. (NAN)

Source: NAN

Proud of still maintaining majority with 53 senators, the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus rose from a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday and ordered defecting Senate President Bukola Saraki to resign.

The National Chairman of APC, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, called for Sarakis resignation when he emerged from a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Oshiomhole told State House correspondents in Abuja that the Senate President should as a matter of honour leave the crown in the house that the crown belongs.

Some senators elected on the platform of the APC led by the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan were also at the meeting held with the President Buhari at the Presidential Villa.

But whatever is the reason, we can decamp from the party but we cant decamp from Nigeria.

The only thing is that there are other consequential issues that every man or woman of honour, who had taken such decisions would be expected to follow through.

I mean you should not collect a crown that belongs to a family and wear it on behalf of the family if for your personal reasons which he has enumerated that he has gone to another family. It is just a matter of honour to leave the crown in the house that the crown belongs to, Oshiomhole said.

He maintains that the ruling party still has the largest party in the Senate.

As it stands even now, APC is still the largest party in the Senate, we have 53 senators, that is much more than PDP has, or APGA has.

I have been consistent with that during the campaign, I have been consistent since I was sworn in. I have made the points in my acceptance speech, I have emphasised this when I met with the Senate caucus and speech.

I have emphasised this when I met with the House of Representatives caucus, that we are ready to do justice to anyone who is genuinely aggrieved and whose grievances are such that we can deal with them provided we enthrone justice, fairness and all sides purge themselves of any arrogance.

To the best of my knowledge, all senators, house of reps members were happy, the ones that are not negotiable, there is nothing we can do about it.

Oshiomhole also claimed that the defection is not surprising. According to him, the defectors had previously given clear signs before now.

Nobody in the APC will be surprised about the development, in fact, they have stayed a little bit longer than we thought.

Last week the Kwara has State Governor was alluded to have said he was leaving but he didnt say when.

So, we are not surprised at all.

Saraki defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday he party he and some of his supporters, including five governors left in 2014.

He said his return to the party after winning the senate presidents seat on the platform of APC, according to him was to enjoy a greater sense of belonging and in the interest of a greater number of Nigerians.

Similar to what happened in 2014, Saraki has left APC with governors of Kwara, Sokoto and Benue state for now also with his protg APC Spokesperson Bolaji Abdullahi.

Source: NAN

Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has hurried to Makurdi, Benue state capital, on a solidarity visit to Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue where it described threats to impeach him as illegal.

The party said it stood by the governor who defected from ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to PDP last week.

The PDP said it was in Benue to support the governor and welcome him back to the PDP family.

Earlier in the year, some governors of PDP paid solidarity visits to the governor over what the clashes between farmers and herders.

PDP Governor Nysome Wike of Rivers state donated money to Ortom when he visited, an act viewed as attempt to woo the embattled governor to the opposition party.

The defection of Ortom is not without consequences as some lawmakers has vowed of the national ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have vowed to oust him.

PDP National Chairman Uche Secondus who on Wednesday led some PDP governors and senators on the visit, met with Ortom at the Government House in Makurdi.

Secondus described the impeachment plot initiated by eight members of the Benue legislature as an act of illegality, and urged Nigerians to rise against it.

The House has 30 members; eight members cannot form a quorum to seat, much less plot an impeachment process, he said.

He assured him that the PDP would stand by him, urging him to ignore recent allegations hurled at him by people angry that he had left the All Progressives Congress.

Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa, who spoke on behalf of the governors, assured Ortom of his colleagues support in his trying times.

Dickson described the impeachment notice to Ortom by a minority group at the Benue State House of Assembly as nonsense, vowing that the governors would never allow it.

Democracy and the rule of law must be given the proper respect in Nigeria, he said.

He decried the spate of killings of innocent Nigerians in different parts of the country, and urged the federal government to tackle the phenomenon.

Dickson called on the people of Benue to stand by their governor, especially now that he was passing through a trying moment.

Responding, Ortom described himself as a prodigal son, and pleaded that PDP should fully receive him back into its fold.

He described PDP as his home, saying that he had returned to his family, given that he was no longer comfortable in APC.

He charged the Federal Government to respect democratic norms and principle, saying that he would resist any attempt by any agency of government or persons to intimidate him.

The governor decried the withdrawal of police personnel from the Internally Displaced Persons camps in the state, and described the action as very dangerous.

Also speaking, the state chairman of PDP, Mr John Ngbede, admonished the governor to remain firm and not be intimated, saying that the PDP family was solidly behind him in his travails.

Source: NAN

President Muhammadu Buhari and his embattled All Progressives Congress (APC) have met to brainstorm on the gale of defections and to assess the fortunes of the party.

In what is similar to political re-alignment in 2014, some key political gladiators that defected from then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have again taken their exit from APC.

Senate President Bukola Saraki and his supporters, including governors of Kwara, Sokoto and Benue as well as some senators and members of House of Representatives have returned to their old party, PDP.

They claimed they were marginalised in APC and that they wanted a haven for their comfort.

The APC deliberated on the defections on Wednesday at that high level meeting with President Muhamamadu Buhari.

Two of our colleagues left our party. This is politics, it is unfortunate that they have to go, the Chairman of APC governors Forum and Imo state governor Rochas Okorocha said on Wednesday.

We have 22 states, 53 senators now. Nobody is leaving the party anymore. Those who have left, we are aware that they will leave long ago.

Okorocha has assured the nation that no governor will defect from the party anymore.

Okorocha, who briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting on Wednesday night, said: President Buhari means well and he is willing to fight corruption and you all know if you are fighting corruption, it will fight back.

This is whats happening, he said.

The APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiohmole, who also spoke on the outcome of the meeting, said the governors were on a solidarity visit to President Buhari.

Those governors that attended the meeting included Gov. Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa, Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos state and Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi.

Others were Gov. Jubril Bindow of Adamawa, Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno, Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi and Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state.

Also at the meeting were Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau, Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo,Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state and Niger State Governor, Sani Bello.

Gov. Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state, Gov. Tanko Almakura of Nasarawa, Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo and Osun Deputy Governor, Grace Laoye-Tomori were also in attendance.

However, Gov. Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara, who is the current Chairman of the Governors Forum as well as governors of Bauchi and Yobe states were absent at the meeting.(NAN)

Source: NAN

The three-day Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly, involving 36 speakers, will hold in Lagos beginning from Aug. 3.

The Lagos State House of Assembly would host the conference, the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Strategy and Security, Mrs Adefunmilayo Tejuoso, has said.

The conference will deliberate on national issues, especially those that have to do with the legislative arm of government, Tejuoso said.

The lawmaker, representing Mushin Constituency I at the Assembly, said that the three-day event would feature deliberations anchored on presentation of papers, among others.

She said that the visiting speakers would attend a dinner on Friday organised by the host Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode.

The event proper takes place on Saturday where papers will be presented. In between presentation of papers on Saturday, the Speakers will visit the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

They will also visit the Oba of Lagos, His Royal Majesty, Rilwan Akiolu.

The Speakers will later present their resolutions through a communique after the meeting, she said. (NAN)

Source: NAN

(dpa/NAN) A woman in northern India has chopped off her husbands genitals for allegedly neglecting her and staying with his second wife, police said on Thursday.

Yunus Ahmed, 45, has been admitted to a hospital in Uttar Pradesh states Muzaffarnagar district and the woman has been arrested, Area Police Chief, Anil Kaparwan said.

Ahmed married the second time with the consent of his wife in 2017 since they did not have a son.

Police said the two often had quarrels over his staying at the second wifes residence.

On Wednesday, their fight flared up and the woman, who repeatedly accused him of not spending time with her and ignoring her, cut his genitals using a knife, Kaparwan said.

He was rushed to the hospital in a serious condition and is receiving medical treatment, Kaparwan said adding the woman was detained after the victims relatives filed a complaint with police.

The woman faces charges of causing grievous hurt and bodily harm and could face a maximum of 10 years in jail, police said.

Source: NAN