Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state has dismissed the fears that Buharis electoral value would diminish if the aggrieved members of the nPDP pull out of the ruling All Progressives Congress government.

In an interview with State House correspondents in Abuja on Tuesday, El-Rufai said President Buhari would be re-elected, with or without the threatening former PDP members.

I dont agree and I want to go back to 2003. What are we talking about? Who are these new PDP people that are threatening? This is Kwara, Kano, Sokoto, Adamawa, Rivers but I dont think Amaechi is part of them.

So lets take these four states, go back to 2003 and check. Buhari then under ANPP won in all these four states. Go back to 2007, Buhari won in these four states. Even when Shakarau was running as a presidential candidate in 2011, Buhari defeated him in Kano.

And, I have no doubt in my mind that even if the people threatening to leave, leave, it will have absolutely no impact on the presidential elections, the president will win Sokoto, Kwara and Adamawa easily.

Kano is already in the bag, I mean if you saw the crowd that welcome the president without the former governor Kwankwaso, Kano has always been the presidents base.

To me that is not the issue, the issue is that they have written, they have expressed grievances, some of the grievances are legitimate and should be looked into.

But to threaten to leave the party is neither here nor there. If they are honest with themselves they know that President Buhari will win those states with or without them.

El-Rufai visited the State House on Tuesday to update President Buhari on the outcome of last Saturdays Local Government elections in his state and the use of electronic voting system during the exercise.

It was the first time a state adopted the use of electronic machines to conduct elections in Nigeria.

El-Rufai told journalists that he also used the opportunity to welcome the president from his recent trips to America and London.

The governor recommended the adoption of e-voting in future elections at both federal and state levels as a panacea to election frauds in the country.

He expressed the readiness of the Kaduna state government to give out the machines on mutually acceptable terms to those state governments that were yet to conduct local government elections in their states.

Absolutely, I recommend it highly to everyone, I have already offered to my colleagues state governors that are yet to conduct local government elections that they can come to Kaduna and we can give them the machines on mutually acceptable terms.

All you will need is to change the software, it will have the logo of the state and the number of parties active in the state, they can use it. It is easy.

At federal level, I will recommend it as well because with the card reader and the electronic voting machine, the era of rigging elections is almost over and I think that is when people will have confidence in the process and will come out enmass to vote for their leaders.

Having said that, I know we have been working on this for about one year before we got to where we are. Although it is possible for INEC to do it, it will be logistically difficult.

But nothing stops them from trying if the resources are available. Because, the machines have already been manufactured, the designs are there, you only need to place the orders to the Chinese and Im sure they will deliver them in no time.

El-Rufai also dismissed the assertion that the use of e-voting was against the Electoral Act, saying that, I dont agree with that.

There is an amendment to the Electoral Act that President Jonathan signed a few days before he left office which legitimizes the use of the card reader and other electronic systems for voting.

So, in my view the current Electoral Act has provision for the electoral voting.

But, that is not even what we used in Kaduna. In Kaduna, we enacted our own electoral law that made provision for the electronic voting machine and card reader, everything was totally legitimized and passed by our State House of Assembly and I think every state can do the same, he said.

He added that the current legal framework allowed the use of electronic voting machines.

Source: NAN

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved N10 billion for the rebuilding communities and victims of crisis, just as government has denied claims of agenda to eliminate people in Benue.

President Yemi Osinbajo, who is on a two-day visit to Benue unveiled the plan rehabilitation and rebuilding of communities on Tuesday.

Osinbajo said during a stakeholders meeting at the Benue Peoples Government House, Makurdi, that the Federal Government was determined to prove insinuations wrong by rebuilding all damaged communities in the country.

He said the anger and disappointment expressed by the people at the meeting was right and justified but assured that government was committed to providing security for their protection.

He said there were several interventions that had been initiated to make life bearable to them.

The Vice President assured that the government would dig deep into the root cause of the crises to find lasting solutions to it.

He also dismissed the religious colorations attached to the killings, saying persecutions have always been with Christians and it is the duty of Christians to stop it.

The gospel of Jesus cannot be killed by anybody; it is not fragile or written on a piece of paper, he explained.

He said the recent recruitments into the various arms of the security agencies was aimed at providing effective security protection to the people, especially communities under frequent attacks.

The vice president also condoled with the Catholic Church for the attack on its priests and worshippers at Saint Ignatius Parish Mbalom where 18 people including two catholic priests were killed by suspected armed herdsmen.

Earlier in his address, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue, called on the federal government to fish out the killers of the two priests and their parishioners.

He also called for more humanitarian aid to the state to handle the displaced people who were living in inappropriate sanitary conditions.

Also speaking at the meeting, Maj-Gen Lawrence Onoja (Retd) called for the establishment of Middle Belt Reconstruction Commission to tackle the most of the challenges the state faced especially in agriculture.

He also called on the federal government to arrest the killer- herdsmen and provide protection to farmers to enable them return to their farms.

The Catholic Bishop of Gboko Diocese, Most Rev. Williams Avenya, regretted the attacks on innocent citizens and called on the government to encourage the ranching of livestock as a panacea to the blood bath in the Benue valley.

The Speaker, Benue House of Assembly, Mr Terkimbi Ikyange, called on the government to encourage the adoption of the Anti- Open Grazing Law by all states to end the acrimonious relationship with herders in the country.

A former Vice Chancellor, ABU Zaria, Prof Daniel Saror, appealed to the federal government to chase out the herders who had taken over their farmlands and were occupying their houses.

For Dr Magdalyne Dura, a lecturer, the N10 billion earmarked to rebuild damaged communities was inadequate, considering the volume of damage done by the herders.

Other speakers who also supported the adoption of the anti open grazing law included; former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Mike Aondoakaa, Brig-Atom Kpera, Prof Tony Ijohor and Prof Jerry Agada.(NAN)

Source: NAN

The leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), Sheik Ibrahim El-zakzaky, has been arraigned before the Kaduna High Court.

The Kaduna State Government on Tuesday arraigned the leader of Shiites who has been in detention since 2015.

The IMN leader and his wife are being arraigned on eight counts of alleged culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, disturbance of public peace, among other allegations.

They were brought to the court from Abuja, the nations capital in two black SUVs amidst tight security.

At the commencement of the hearing, the defence counsel, Mr. Maxwell Kyon, made an oral application for the couple on grounds that they had been in detention for over two years without trial.

Justice Kurada, however, refused the oral application made by Mr Kyon and told him to rather file a written application which will be heard before or on the next adjourned date.

Consequently, he adjourned the case till June 21, 2018.

El-zakzaky and his wife have been held in prison without trial since his arrest by the Nigerian government in December 2015.

While his followers regularly take to the streets to protest his prolonged detention, Tuesdays arraignment sparked a fresh protest as the members blocked the popular Ahmadu Bello way and other major roads in the state capital to demand his release.

Source: NAN

Jailed Malaysian reformist Anwar Ibrahim was granted a full pardon on Wednesday and walked out of a hospital in Kuala Lumpur just a week after his alliance scored a shock victory in a general election.

Smiling and waving to supporters, Anwar, dressed in a black suit and tie and his hair neatly swept back, was surrounded by his family, lawyers and prison guards before driving to the palace for an audience with King Sultan Muhammad V.

He was greeted at the palace by new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, his ally-turned-foe-turned-ally, with whom he joined forces to oust scandal-tainted Najib Razaks administration in last weeks election.

The king, with the advice of the pardons board of the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, has allowed a full pardon and given an immediate release for Anwar bin Ibrahim, said a statement issued by the palace.

Anwar, 70, serving a five year-sentence for sodomy, has been recovering from a shoulder injury in hospital under police guard.

The pardon allows Anwar to re-enter active politics immediately, but it was not clear what his role in government would be.

Mahathir, 92, had vowed to enable Anwars release and eventually step aside for him to become the prime minister.

On Tuesday, Mahathir said he expected to be prime minister for one or two more years, setting off talk of differences between the two.

Seeing him walk free makes me emotional, but the fight is not over, said Ridzuan Ismail, an Anwar supporter at the hospital. Now we need to see him become prime minister.

Jack Seng, another supporter wearing a shirt with a logo of Anwar behind bars, said he thought Mahathir and Anwar would resolve any tensions between them.

I think we need to let Mahathir do his work to save Malaysia and to get back its system of government.

Nurul Izzah, Anwars daughter, said her fathers release was a gift ahead of the holy Islamic month of Ramadan which begins on Thursday in Malaysia.

A pardon based on a miscarriage of justice, a separation met with an eventual embrace, she said in an Instagram post. We have got much to do, many more injustices to fight.

Anwars freedom is expected to ease fears of a growing rift within the newly formed coalition government, after differences erupted between supporters of Mahathir and Anwar over cabinet positions and Anwars role in the party.

Mahathir is the leader of the ruling alliance and Anwars Peoples Justice Party (PKR) won the majority of parliamentary seats in the group.

The volatile relationship between Mahathir and Anwar has dominated Malaysias political landscape for over three decades and is central to the future of the alliance.

Source: NAN

Kenyas former Chief Government Pathologist, Dr. Moses Njue on, accused of stealing the heart of a corpse at Lee Funeral Home three years ago, has denied the allegation.

Dr Njue was charged at a Nairobi court alongside his son, Lemuel Anasha Mureithi who was his assistant pathologist.

They are accused of stealing the heart of Timothy Mwandi Muumbo while performing an autopsy on June 25, 2015.

Mureithi was not in court and Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi issued summons for him to appear in court and answer to the charges before the hearing date on July 3.

Dr Njue denied a further count of destroying the heart, to conceal evidence, knowing that the autopsy report would be used as evidence in a case pending in court.

He denied a third count of illegally removing the heart.

The court had earlier rejected an application by Dr Njue to defer the plea arguing Mr Muumbos relatives, had filed a petition before the High Court, seeking to compel him to release the body part. According to Dr Njue, the trial will prejudice the High Court case.

Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Catherine Mwaniki objected the application saying Dr Njue was not the applicant in the petition and the trial court had not been served with orders, stopping the proceedings.

Mr Andayi agreed with Ms Mwaniki saying that there was nothing stopping the court from proceeding with the case.

After denying the charges, the court ordered Dr Njue to deposit cash bail of Sh300,000 to secure his release.

Another family in Meru County complained that they buried their relative minus the heart after Dr Njue performed an autopsy to establish the cause of his death.

The DPP had recommended that Dr Njue, who resigned from the government a few years ago to work at his own medical school, be charged with theft of body parts belonging to Benedict Karau.

Mr Karau died mysteriously on March 2, 2015 and Dr Njue was set to be charged with three counts including theft contrary to section 275 of the penal code, wilful destruction of evidence and illegal removal of body parts contrary to the Anatomy Act.

But Dr Njue rushed to court and obtained orders obtained an anticipatory bail and filed a petition seeking to block the charges.

Source:

Source: NAN

Uganda has imposed taxes on religious groups for sale of Bibles, Koran, prayer and hymn books.

The countrys Revenue Authority (URA) imposed the taxes prompting clerics across faith groups expressing consternation and disbelief.

The clerics are insisting that religious materials should be tax-exempt since they use them for spiritual nourishment of Ugandans.

However, the URA commissioner general, Ms Doris Akol, disagreed, saying the practice of not taxing the entities and materials was in the first place an anomaly.

We understand that Value-Added Tax (VAT) has in the past not been paid on the said Bibles, prayer books and hymn books. This was an anomaly, she wrote in an April 19 letter.

Ms Akol was responding to a petition a month earlier by the Church of Uganda Archbishop Stanley Ntagali.

The prelate had asked the tax man to release a consignment of 9,120 prayer and hymn books imported from Nairobi, Kenya, without the church having to pay VAT.

In his March 18 letter, Archbishop Ntagali noted that items had been shipped in by Centenary Publishing House Limited, Church of Ugandas (CoU) publishing arm, which in his view should be tax-exempt.

It is from this point of view that we write to you, appealing that the VAT be waived since they (books) are used to educate the masses and Christians by spreading the word of God as our nations motto affirms, For God and my country, he stated.

Ms Akol said she had no power to waive a tax not excluded under the law and, as such, URA released the consignment only after CoU paid Ush8.9 million ($2,395).

In a country where nine out of every 10 citizens are either Christians or Muslims, the proposed tax that a church official said would result in increase of, for instance, a hymn books cost by Ush3,000 ($0.80).

If enforced, it also means the government could raise substantial revenues from taxes on religious materials.

The religious institutions were unable to immediately provide the number of Bibles, Korans and other worship materials sold in a year.

Mr Joshua Kitakule, the secretary general of the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, an umbrella body of different faiths, on Monday said whereas religions should not entirely be tax-exempt, imposing 18 per cent VAT on Bibles, Korans and prayer books would be erroneous.

These items are not meant for profit; so, it is erroneous to tax them. Prayer books are supposed to strengthen the spiritual nourishment of individuals, he said.

The tax bodys break from tradition followed months of engagement with religious leaders who remained opposed to the proposal.

For instance, Mr Ramathan Mugalu, the secretary general of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, said President Museveni had said all imported prayer materials that are not for sale should not be taxed.

This government has gone too far in its collection of taxes. How can you tax the word of God? It should instead come in to assist in publishing these materials, Mr Mugalu said.

Canon Joram Kahenano, a CoU commissioner, said URA should have referred its proposal for consideration by Parliament before proceeding to implement it.

Source: NAN

A school in Kenya has closed down on Monday over fears of demons in the school compound that has left a number of students hysterical.

Luani Mixed Day and Boarding Secondary School is an ABC sponsored institution at the top of Luani hills, Kaiti sub-county, Makueni.

According to the students, in the last few days, strange forces have been pelting them with stones at night. Even more bizarre, female students claim they have been sexually assaulted by demons. Sources that sought anonymity claim students have been screaming incomprehensibly paralysing night preps.

When The Standard contacted the County Education Director, Ms. Jane Njogu, she confirmed that the school had been shut down. “The school was closed but today we are going there to have a meeting for the way forward”, she said.

Area assistant chief Francis Kimaiyo said the school has been performing well and that it was the first time the school is experiencing such strange events. “We have not had such a scenario in the past, though authorities have visited the school”, he said.

Cases of demons invading schools in the sub-county have been rampant but the institutions have been preferring to deal with the cases through the use of religious leaders avoiding cultural cleansing. A recent case was in Kwa Makuli primary school.

The Kaiti Assistant County Commissioner Benard Nicholas says they will be investigating the claims. He also says they will be looking at other reasons that have prompted the students’ allegations; especially those that have escaped from the school.

“We are investigating the matter and majorly a possibility that the students might not be willing to study”, The ACC said. The school has close to 300 students who will continue staying at home as the matter is looked at by Education authorities.

Source: StandardMedia

The Yobe Government says it has established a dedicated account to ensure the completion of the N11billion Damaturu International Cargo Airport before the tenure expiration of the present administration.

Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam made the disclosure on Tuesday while inspecting work on the project in Kalallawa village, 17 kilometres from Damaturu.

We have opened a dedicated account called the Airport Project Account, money is there waiting for payment at any time, Gaidam said.

The governor expressed satisfaction with the speed and quality of work at the airport.

Gaidam said the contractors should complete the project on time because government has the money to execute the project.

He said the state government had paid N5.6 billion out of the N11.3 billion contractual fee.

According to the governor, the project is cost effective compared to airports constructed at over N63 billion in other states.

Gaidam said work has reached 51.5 per cent completion with impressive speed and quality.

The contract was awarded in September 2017 with 15 months completion period.

Source: NAN

Zimbabwe has followed Lesotho by legalisingthe production of marijuana for medicinal and scientific purposes, making it the second African country to turn the drug into a source of revenue.

However, recreational use of the drug known in the country as mbanje or dagga remains illegal.

A government notice by the health and child care minister, Dr David Parirenyatwa says individuals and corporations can apply for licenses to grow marijuana, whose production and possession had brought up to 12 years in prison.

Producers of mbanje must be licensed by the minister, reported Zimbabwe Herald.

The notice was contained in a Government Gazette Statutory Instrument 62 of 2018 (Dangerous Drugs Production of Cannabis for Medicinal and Scientific Use Regulations).

An application for the issue of a licence in terms of section 27 of the Act shall be made to the Minister, in duplicate and shall be accompanied by the appropriate fee and three copies of a plan of the site proposed to be licensed which shall comply with the requirement specified in these regulations.

In case of an individual, proof of citizenship or proof of being ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe or proof of an exemption by the Minister (will be required), reads the regulations.

In the case of a company, proof of citizenship or proof of being ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe of the majority of directors or proof of an exemption by the Minister and proof of incorporation in Zimbabwe of the company; and a declaration, signed and dated by the proposed authorised person in charge, stating that the authorised person in charge, the proposed responsible person in charge and, if applicable, the proposed alternate responsible person in charge, are familiar with the provisions of the Act (will be required), reads the regulations.

The application for the licence must also provide a detailed description of the method that the applicant proposes to use for keeping records.

The Minister has powers to audit the activities of the licensed producer with respect to cannabis.

The application shall also contain the following (a) if applicable, the maximum quantity expressed as net weight in grammes of fresh cannabis, dried cannabis, cannabis oil to be produced by the applicant under the licence and the production period . . . and the maximum number of cannabis plants to be sold or provided by the applicant under the licence and the period in which that quantity is to be sold or provided, read the regulations.

In case of an application for a licence to sell or provide fresh cannabis or cannabis oil under, the applicant must provide the Minister before commencing to sell or provide the substance, with the dried cannabis equivalence factor determined under section 73 and the method that they used to determine it.

If an applicant intends to possess, produce, sell, provide, ship, deliver, transport or destroy cannabis at more than one site, a separate application must be submitted for each proposed site.

A licensed producer designate one authorised person in charge to have overall responsibility for management of the activities conducted by the licensed producer under their licence at their site who may, if appropriate, be licensed producer.

The latest move on marijuana by Zimbabwe is a marked shift from the traditionally tough stance in the largely conservative country.

The tiny nation of Lesotho last year became the first African country to issue a license for medical marijuana.

Countries including Malawi and Ghana are reportedly exploring ways to legalise the drug. Nigerias National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency continues to arrest people in possession of marijuana.

A South African court last year ruled that private use of marijuana was legal but the government appealed.

Source: NAN

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday the worlds largest social network will soon include a new dating feature while vowing to make privacy protection its top priority in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Zuckerberg unveiled the plans as he addressed Facebooks annual developers conference in San Jose, California emphasizing that the focus would be on helping people find long-term partners.

This is going to be for building real, long-term relationships, not just hook-ups, Zuckerberg said in presenting the new feature, noting that one in three marriages in the United States start online and that some 200 million Facebook users identify as being single.

Under the new feature, users will be able to create a separate dating profile not visible to their network of friends, with potential matches recommended based on dating preferences, points in common, and mutual acquaintances.

Zuckerberg did not specify whether the feature would be free of charge, in line with Facebooks core offer but the announcement was enough to send shares in the online dating giant Match.com tumbling by 17 percent.

The 33-year-old CEO also said the dating offer was built from the ground-up with privacy and safety in mind, as he underscored the firms commitment to boosting privacy protections.

Facebooks closely-watched developer conference comes as the giant faces intense global scrutiny over the mass harvesting of personal data by Cambridge Analytica, a British political consultancy that worked for Donald Trumps 2016 election campaign.

Facebook has admitted up to 87 million users may have had their data hijacked in the scandal, which saw Zuckerberg grilled at length by the US Congress last month.

We need to make sure that never happens again, Zuckerberg told the audience.

Clear history

In a related move, Facebook Tuesday announced an upcoming feature called Clear History that will allow users to see which apps and websites send the network information, delete the data from their account, and prevent Facebook from storing it.

The social network has already moved to limit the amount of data it shares with third-party applications and plans further steps to prevent a repeat of the Cambridge Analytica debacle, Zuckerberg said.

Facebook is also reviewing applications overall as well as auditing those that accessed large amounts of data to make sure access isnt abused, he said.

Security isnt a problem than you ever fully solve, Zuckerberg said, outlining the slew of efforts by Facebook to battle election interference, misinformation, spam among other challenges.

This is an arms race; we are going to be working to stay ahead of our adversaries forever.

Message translation

Facebook separately announced Tuesday that its popular Messenger app would soon be able to translate missives in real time, deploying artificial intelligence to enable text conversations between people using different languages.

Source: NAN