A young Nigerian girl has told a Lagos High Court about her ordeal in the hands of some human traffickers, who shipped her to Dubai in United Arab Emirates, for prostitution.

Before leaving Nigeria, the traffickers who have now been jailed 12 years each by a Lagos Court, took nude pictures of her and asked her to make an oath.

She was told to remit money to their agents in Dubai, with a threat of exposing her nude photos online, whenever she failed to do so.

The victim told the court that when she could not raise the money demanded, the convicts posted her nude pictures as earlier threatened.

Her story was heard by Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo of Federal High Court in Lagos, who sentenced two accused, Terry Homuere-Smooth and Priscilla Bassey, to 12 years imprisonment for human trafficking for prostitution.

Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo, sentenced the convicts, after finding them guilty on two counts of human trafficking preferred against them by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons(NAPTIP).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convicts were first arraigned sometime in November 2015, on charges bordering on organising and procuring the foreign export of a young girl (name withheld) to Dubai.

The offences according to the prosecutor Mr Sebol Langyi, contravene the provisions of sections 14 (b) and 18 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015.

During trial of the convicts, the prosecution called two witnesses including the victim, who told the court how the convicts forced her into prostitution on arrival at Dubai.

The victim said that it was when her nude photos went viral on the net, that the NAPTIP came into her case and the convicts were apprehended.

Meanwhile, the convicts during their evidences, denied the allegations and urged the court to discharge and acquit them of the offences.

Delivering judgment on Tuesday, Justice Oluremi held: The prosecution has been able to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt against each of the defendants.

Consequently, the defendants are hereby convicted as charged.

After the court pronounced them convicted, lawyers to the convicts during a plea for mercy before sentence, urged the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing them.

They told the court that the accused were first time offenders, and had showed great remorse during their detention.

After their respective pleas, Justice Oguntoyinbo held:

I have listened to the allocutus made by counsel to the defendants.

However, the minimum punishment for count one is seven years imprisonment with a fine of N1 million, while the minimum punishment for the second count is five years.

In the light of above, I hereby sentence the first and second defendants to seven years imprisonment on count one, and five years on count two.

The terms are to run concurrently and without option of fine.

According to the charge, the convicts committed the offence in July 2015, alongside one Bella who is said to be at large.

They were said to have organised and facilitated the foreign travel of the victim to Dubai, to promote prostitution.

The convicts were said to have engaged their young victim in unwholesome sexual exploitation, contrary to the provisions of the Trafficking in Person Enforcement and Administration Act.

Source: NAN

The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly faced a fresh rumpus this morning, split down the middle, between APC and PDP legislators and two men who claimed to be the legitimate speakers.

Today, a faction led by Nse Ntuen, a member of the APC, who was purportedly elected Speaker last week held a session and
suspended 11 members, with former speaker Onofiok Luke top of the list.

There are 26 members of the assembly.

Luke also convened last week Monday and suspended Ntuen, along with four other members.

Other members suspended by Ntuen are Udo Kerian Akpan, Felicia Bassey, Nse Essien, Lawrence Udofia, Usoro Akpanusoh, Ime Okon, Friday Iwok, Asuquo Archibong, Mark Esset, Emmanuel Ekpenyong, Aniekan Uko till further notice.

Ntuen also dissolved all standing committees constituted illegally by the former speaker and adjourned till next week Tuesday 4 December.

The PDP on its Twitter handle accused former governor Godswill Akpabio for masterminding the crisis, which caused the transfer of former police commissioner, Bassey Abang, a charge repeated by Governor Udom Emmanuel, who came to the assembly to disrupt proceedings of the Ntuen faction.

Governor Emmanuel is now accusing the new commissioner, Musa Kimo, of partisanship.

Kimo reported for work last week and had replaced another commissioner, accused of the same offence.

The PDP claimed that Ntuen, aided by thugs and the police, stormed the house today to sit.

But the Ntuen group is also accusing the PDP member, Luke of carrying out illegalities, by suspending him and four other members.

On Monday, the new police commissioner Kimo, condemned the crisis rocking the House of Assembly, during a meeting with 20 political parties in the state.

Kimo described the crisis as ugly and worrisome.

At a press conference, Governor Emmanuel claimed Akwa Ibom State is under siege and has called for the redeployment of the Commissioner of Police.

Emmanuel claimed Musa Kimo is threatening the peace of the state by aiding the five sacked lawmakers to take over the State House of Assembly.

He said democracy in the state is being threatened, and called on the CP to be removed from the state immediately.

He said the government had received intelligence report of the plan of the sacked lawmakers to take over the house of assembly and the plans were executed supervised by the police.

Gov Udom further stated that the same police that he used state resources to equip is today fighting the state, adding that several petitions to President Buhari and the IGP about the activities of the Police and the sacked lawmakers have been ignored.

He said the security problems initiated by the sacked lawmakers was designed to prevent elections from holding in the state.

He warned that if elections were not held in the state as scheduled, then elections would not hold on a later date.

It remains to be seen what PDP Speaker Lukes next move will be before Tuesday 4 December.

Source: NAN

U.S. President Donald Trump will have bilateral meetings with the leaders of Argentina, Russia, Japan and Germany when he and the American delegation go to Argentina for the Group of 20 summit later this week, a White House spokeswoman told reporters on Tuesday.

Trump is also expected to meet separately with Chinas Xi Jinping for the first time since the worlds two largest economies imposed tariffs on each others imports.

Trump will also meet with the leaders of Turkey and India, White House national security adviser John Bolton told reporters.

But Bolton said Trump has not planned to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the CIA believes ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump has vowed to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia.

Source: NAN

Two vital prosecution witnesses who gave evidence in the trial of former Adamawa Governor Murtala Nyako have died mysteriously.

Adekunle Odofin, a detective with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, made the startling revelation before Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja today.

According to the detective, the two witnesses made crucial statements during the investigation into a N29billion fraud case.

Odofin told the court that the two persons were very vital to the prosecution of the case.

Nyako is being prosecuted by the Commission, alongside his son, Senator Abdul-Aziz Nyako, Abubakar Aliyu and Zulkifikk Abba, on a 37-count charge of criminal conspiracy, stealing, abuse of office and money laundering to the tune of N29billion.

Five companies that allegedly served as conduit pipes for the illegal diversion of the funds Blue Opal Limited, Sebore Farms

The new North American Free Trade Agreement, which binds Canada, the United States and Mexico, will be signed on the margins of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires this weekend.

The White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau believed the renamed US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) would support the auto industry and its employees.

That deal will be signed in Argentina, he said.

In Ottawa, Trudeaus office said the parties were tracking toward signing the pact on November 30, but added that details were still being finalized.

Were still discussing what a signing ceremony would look like, a senior official said, adding that in the meantime, the scrub of the legal text continues.

Source: NAN

In order to ensure justice prevailed, a Pennsylvania judge has ordered the commonwealths former attorney general to report to prison by 9 a.m. Thursday, more than two years after she was convicted for leaking grand jury information and lying about it.

Democrat Kathleen Kane, 52, had been free on $75,000 bail while she appealed her 10-to-23-month sentence. The state Supreme Court announced Monday that it had declined to take up her case.

Given that the rationale for (the) defendant remaining at liberty pending appeal has expired, post-sentence bail is revoked,Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy write in ordering Kane to report tothe Montgomery County Correctional Facility.Demchick-Alloy formally directed the Lackawanna County sheriff to serve a copy of her order on Kane, who lives in Scranton.

Kanes lawyer, Joshua Lock, has not responded to multiple messages seeking comment.

The Montgomery County district attorneys office formally requested the order earlier Tuesday, arguing the Supreme Court decision was the end of the legal road for Kane.

Two different appellate courts have reviewed her case, yet her judgment of sentence remains.

She received a fair trial, her guilt was proven beyond a reasonable doubt and now it is time for her to serve her sentence, District Attorney Kevin Steele wrote

Kane was convicted of two counts of felony perjury and seven misdemeanors, including obstruction and conspiracy.

The first woman and first Democrat to be elected as Pennsylvanias attorney general, Kane resigned from office after her October 2016 conviction.

She had argued before Superior Court that she should have been allowed to use evidence of a pornographic email scandal that rocked the states judicial community as well as evidence related to the Jerry Sandusky child molestation case that her former office prosecuted.

Steeles bail revocation motion to Demchick-Alloy anticipated that Kane may have argued the judge had discretion to keep Kane out on bail while she seeks further state review.

The district attorney said that was only possible under a motion for the high court to reconsider its decision turning down her appeal, which he said could not be done simply to delay the sentence.

He said a reconsideration application only could have been for delay purposes.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Courts denial of discretionary review should be considered the conclusion of (Kanes) avenues for direct appeal in state court, Steele argued.

The lower appeals court alsorejected Kanes argumentthat she should have been allowed to prevent all Montgomery County judges from handling her case, as well as her claims that evidence against her was illegally obtained and that she had been the victim of selective and vindictive prosecution.

Source: NAN

Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, one of the most influential figures in international sport on Wednesday officially stepped down from a powerful Olympic body as he fights forgery charges in Switzerland.

Ahmad had already announced he was temporarily stepping aside from his IOC duties and asked not to be re-elected president of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC).

I am confident I am innocent. I trust the court of justice in Switzerland I know I am innocent. I am sure about that and I will follow through on my trust in the court in Switzerland, he told delegates.

I will decide to step aside of my own will for a while and to come back to you stronger, added the Kuwaiti powerbroker.

But there was last-minute drama at the gathering in Tokyo as several representatives pushed for the Sheikh the only candidate for ANOC president to be re-elected anyway.

In chaotic scenes, delegate after delegate spoke to defend Sheikh Ahmad, arguing that he had become embroiled in a political affair that had nothing to do with sport and that was being played out in the courts.

The ship of ANOC has been sailing rather smoothly and now is not the time to change the captain, said the representative from Guyana.

After an unscheduled last-minute intervention from the Sheikh, delegates finally agreed to postpone the election for president while he sorts out his legal issues.

Officials admitted this was a unique situation and there was nothing in the organisations constitution to deal with such a case.

A long-time IOC member seen as a close ally of President Thomas Bach, Sheikh Ahmad is accused of orchestrating a complex forgery scheme linked to his efforts to prove his native countrys former prime minister is guilty of corruption and plotting a coup.

The aim of the alleged forgery, according to a Swiss charge sheet seen by AFP, was to legitimise suspicious video recordings Sheikh Ahmad had presented in Kuwait as evidence of corrupt practices by ex-premier Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah and former parliament chief Jassem al-Khorafi.

The case against Sheikh Ahmad, a nephew of Kuwaits ruler, Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, is set to go before a court in Geneva next year.

Source: NAN

Indonesias Lion Air jet that crashed last month should have been grounded over a recurrent technical problem and never permitted to make the fatal flight.

This was the interim verdict of the Indonesian Transport Safety agency in a report released today that took aim at the carriers poor safety culture.

The Boeing 737 MAX vanished from radar about 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta on October 29, slamming into the Java Sea moments after it had asked to return to the capital.

The preliminary crash report from the agency did not pinpoint a definitive cause of the accident, which killed all 189 people on board, with a final report not likely to be filed until next year.

But investigators said that Lion Air kept putting the plane back into service despite repeatedly failing to fix a problem with the airspeed indicator in the days leading up to the fatal flight.

Its second last flight was from Denpasar in Bali to Jakarta.

During (that) flight, the plane was experiencing a technical problem but the pilot decided to continue, Nurcahyo Utomo, aviation head at the National Transport Safety Committee, told reporters.

The plane was no longer airworthy and it should not have kept flying, he added.

The findings will heighten concerns there were problems with key systems in one of the worlds newest and most advanced commercial passenger planes.

Investigators have previously said the doomed aircraft had problems with its airspeed indicator and angle of attack (AOA) sensors, prompting Boeing to issue a special bulletin telling operators what to do when they face the same situation.

The report confirmed that initial finding, saying the planes data recorder detected an issue with the AoA.

It also said the planes stick shaker the steering-wheel like handles in front of the pilots that vibrates to warn of a system malfunction was activated and continued for most of the fight.

An AOA sensor provides data about the angle at which air is passing over the wings and tells pilots how much lift a plane is getting. The information can be critical in preventing an aircraft from stalling.

The Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee has retrieved one of the planes black boxes the flight data recorder but is yet to locate the cockpit voice recorder.

Black box data showed the plane also had an airspeed indicator issue on multiple earlier flights, investigators said.

Lion must take steps to improve the safety culture and ensure all the operation documents are properly filled and documented, the transport agency said.

Despite a dubious safety record and an avalanche of complaints over shoddy service, the budget carriers parent Lion Air Group, which also operates Batik Air and Wings Air, has captured half the domestic market in less than 20 years of operation to become Southeast Asias biggest airline.

Source: NAN

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho wants his underperforming side to take the game to Young Boys straight from kick-off when they face the Swiss club in the Champions League at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

If United win and Valencia fail to beat Juventus, they would qualify for the last 16 with a game to spare.

Mourinho slammed United after their lacklustre goalless draw with Premier League strugglers Crystal Palace last weekend, accusing his players of lacking heart.

The players were were booed off the field by their own fans at Old Trafford following a result that left them seventh in the table well adrift of the qualifying positions for next seasons Champions League.

He warned that a repeat display against Young Boys would leave United needing to go Spain and beat Valencia in their final Group H game if they were to remain involved in the competition.

Uniteds sluggish start has been attributed to Mourinhos own approach, which some Red Devils fans feel runs contrary to the clubs tradition of attacking football.

But, speaking at his pre-match press conference on Monday, Mourinho insisted: Its frustrating because what I want is the team to start strong, is the team to go strong on the opponent, not to be waiting, not to be reactive but proactive.

Thats exactly what I want and probably you or the fans, they think oh, Jose told them to start slow, Jose told them to play nice and easy and wait to see what happens or to be losing for then to react.

The Portuguese boss insisted: It is exactly the opposite thing. I want the team to start strong, I want the team to have a go immediately and it is a bit frustrating.

It is not a crucial game, but I want to play like it is the last chance to qualify. I want to play like a knockout game.

As for suggestions United were better off playing away from Old Trafford at the moment, Mourinho said: If you feel pressure to play matches at home where the people come to support come on. I never felt pressure to play at home.

Young Boys boss Gerardo Seoane expects United to be back to their best.

I think Manchester United are strong at home and, for sure, also they want to show to their crowd that they are strong also at home, he said.

This stadium has a big tradition. Manchester United were always the Red Devils at home so we expect a very difficult game.

Meanwhile Mourinho said he was prepared to walk to Old Trafford if traffic problems again hampered Uniteds preparations before a home Champions League tie.

UEFA fined United 15,000 euros (13,000) for their late arrival and the subsequent delayed kick-off of their match against Valencia in October.

Traffic congestion also saw Juventus arrive just over an hour and United barely 50 minutes before their clash at Old Trafford that same month.

Mourinho got out of the team bus and walked to the ground on that occasion and is ready to do so again.

We are going to stay in a hotel just a few metres away and the information I have from the club and the club contacts with the police is that things are going to be much better than the last time. But if it isnt better, I walk!

United will be without injured Sweden defender Victor Lindelof while Swiss champions Young Boys, who lost the reverse fixture 3-0, are missing French striker Guillaume Hoarau because of an ankle problem.

Source: NAN

A recent study suggests that HIV drugs might successfully treat Alzheimers disease, which affects in the US alone, an estimated 5.7million people.

According to the research, published by , an HIV enzyme plays a crucial role in driving Alzheimers-related brain pathology by altering the APP gene.

The findings warrant immediate clinical evaluation of HIV antiretroviral therapies in people with Alzheimers disease, the authors of the study said.

Deemed the most under-recognized public health crisis of the 21st century, Alzheimers disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States and has no known cure.

Alzheimers also puts a significant strain on the American healthcare system. According to recent estimates, Alzheimers and other forms of dementia cost the U.S. $226 billion in 2015, and loved ones spend billions of unpaid hours caring for people with the condition. About 40 percent of these caregivers develop depression.

The medical community is hard at work trying to understand how this debilitating disorder occurs and what can be done to stop it. For instance, one of the clues that researchers have so far is the so-called APP gene.

The APP gene encodes a protein called amyloid precursor protein found in the brain and spinal cord, among other tissues and organs.

While the exact role of the APP protein is still unknown, scientists have found links between mutations in this gene and the risk of early-onset Alzheimers disease. Specifically, over 50 different mutations in the APP gene can trigger the condition, accounting for approximately 10 percent of all early-onset Alzheimers cases.

New research, published in the journal Nature, offers unprecedented revelations into the APP gene. Scientists at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) in La Jolla, California, found that the same type of enzyme that enables HIV to infect cells recombines the APP gene in a way that creates thousands of new genetic variants in the neurons of people with Alzheimers.

The findings may not only explain how APP drives the toxic buildup of beta-amyloid proteins which is a hallmark of Alzheimers disease but also fundamentally change how we understand the brain and Alzheimers disease, according to Dr. Jerold Chun, Ph.D., the senior author of the new paper.

Crucially, the new results suggest that antiretroviral therapies that are currently used to treat HIV may be useful for treating Alzheimers too.

Dr. Chun and his team used cutting-edge analysis techniques that focused on single- and multiple-cell samples to study the APP gene in Alzheimers and healthy brain samples.

They found that the APP gene breeds new genetic variations within neurons through a process of genetic recombination. Specifically, the process requires reverse transcriptase, which is the same enzyme found in HIV.

Reverse transcription and reinsertion of the genetic variants back into the original genome created permanent DNA changes that occurred mosaically.

Gene recombination was discovered as both a normal process for the brain and one that goes wrong in Alzheimers disease, explains Dr. Chun, who is also a professor and the senior vice president of Neuroscience Drug Discovery at SBP.

The researchers report that 100 percent of the brain samples that had the neurodegenerative condition also had a disproportionately high number of different APP genetic variations compared with healthy brains.

The studys senior author explains, If we imagine DNA as a language that each cell uses to speak, we found that in neurons, just a single word may produce many thousands of new, previously unrecognized words.

This is a bit like a secret code embedded within our normal language that is decoded by gene recombination, Dr. Chun adds. The secret code is being used in healthy brains but also appears to be disrupted in Alzheimers disease.

Dr. Chun and colleagues suggest that antiretroviral therapy that blocks the reverse transcriptase may be a successful treatment for Alzheimers.

Our findings provide a scientific rationale for immediate clinical evaluation of HIV antiretroviral therapies in people with Alzheimers disease.

The scientists also point out that seniors with HIV who take antiretroviral medication tend not to develop Alzheimers disease, which may support the researchers conclusions.

The scientists also say that their findings may serve to explain a mystery that has puzzled researchers for years. The medical community widely accepts the idea that the buildup of a toxic protein called beta-amyloid causes Alzheimers neuro-degeneration.

However, whenever researchers tested treatments that were designed to target this toxic buildup in clinical trials, such treatments failed.

But the new findings, say Dr. Chun and team, shed light on this baffling contradiction. The thousands of APP gene variations in Alzheimers disease provide a possible explanation for the failures of more than 400 clinical trials targeting single forms of beta-amyloid or involved enzymes, Chun says.

APP gene recombination in Alzheimers disease may be producing many other genotoxic changes as well as disease-related proteins that were therapeutically missed in prior clinical trials.

The functions of APP and beta-amyloid that are central to the amyloid hypothesis can now be re-evaluated in light of our gene recombination discovery.

Dr. Jerold Chun
Said Jerold Chun, although the new findings are groundbreaking, much remains to be discovered, adds Dr. Chun. Todays discovery is a step forward but there is so much that we still dont know.

We hope to evaluate gene recombination in more brains, in different parts of the brain and involving other recombined genes in Alzheimers disease as well as other neurodegenerative and neurological diseases and use this knowledge to design effective therapies targeting gene recombination.

Source: NAN

By Sunday Bassey

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Eket office says it had discovered 50 illegal filling stations in the state.

Mr Tamunoiminabo Kingsley-Sundaye, the Operations Controller of DPR in Akwa Ibom made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Eket on Monday.

He explained that the illegal filling stations refused to obtain Federal Government licenses nor follow due process in their construction.

He added that the filling stations were built without appropriate approval by the department in the state.

There are 50 illegal filling stations in the state. We have come to a point in this country where people have decided to do things that are wrong.

When I resume a year ago, we observed that there are some fuel stations that are built without appropriate approvals from the department, he said.

He said that when building filling stations, there are things that are considered such as engineering design, safety, earth considerations and social economy of the area.

He condemned marketers that build filling stations that share boundaries with markets, schools, hospitals, saying that such stations would affect the economy of the area.

He warned marketers that site filling stations before coming to DPR for consideration to desist from it.

He said that the department had sensitised the marketers who are involved to come to DPR office for reassessment and appropriate documentation.

We have compiled those names and send them to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) to take appropriate actions, he said.

Kingsley-Sundaye said that the department was working with law enforcement agencies and the state government to dismantle illegal filling stations in the state.

We will work with the state government to dismantle illegal filling stations in the state and the department was working towards getting rid of those stations, Kingsley-Sundaye said.

He noted that owners of such stations have violated the Petroleum Act of 1969 which says that nobody can sell or store Petroleum product in Nigeria without federal government license.

Source: NAN

By Florence Onuegbu

Blackberry Mobile Nigeria on Monday unveiled Blackberry KEY2 LE, an Android version of Blackberry smartphone in the Nigerian market.

The re-born icon Blackberry brand is being sponsored by Ngilex Mobile Ltd.

Speaking during the unveiling in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer, Ngilex, Mr Kingsley Obaji, said that with the Blackberry KEY2 LE, the company was targeting 10 per cent market share in Nigeria by end of 2019.

Obaji said that Nigeria was 7th in the world in terms of cell phone usage; hence, the Nigerian smartphone market had to be taken seriously.

He said that Blackberry was ready for the competition in the market, as it had the best product that would enable it become the leader in the smartphone market in a couple of years.

According to him, Ngilex Mobile wants Blackberry phones to be organic, to be part of Nigerian smartphone business; hence, is looking at what the market demands.

Nigerian market demands the best. The market is large; the Nigerian users are smart and looking for better options.

We are looking at capturing some five per cent to 10 per cent market share within the next year and this requires a lot of efforts in marketing and outreach, he said.

The Ngilex boss said that the all-new Blackberry smartphones brought together iconic Blackberry features; with new experience that included dual-SIM, dual-rear camera, more intelligent keyboard, extended battery life and improved privacy controls.

He said that the Blackberry KEY2 LE ran the latest Android 8.1 Oreo operating system and provided access to millions of applications in the Google Play store.

Obaji said that Nigeria was the first country in Africa to receive and market the Blackberry KEY2 LE smartphone.

He said that the KEY2 LE came at a time when the Nigerian market was looking for a different smartphone option.

According to him, the company brings values of productivity, reliability and security to the next level.

Talking about productivity, the BlackBerry KEY2 LE has all the features you need to manage your work, travel, and personal life on the go.

This includes support for dual personal accounts and business ready software that makes it easier to manage all aspects of your business and personal life.

The BlackBerry KEY2 LE is the first BlackBerry with dual account management built in to enable you to separately manage both personal and professional social media profiles on apps like Facebook and Instagram.

All Blackberry devices we are bringing into Nigeria are dual SIM enable and will support dual WhatsApp and other apps that require unique numbers.

In Nigeria, most cell phone users are carrying multiple phones on multiple carriers. You can have these lines on a single device, while avoiding carrying the power bank that most users are used to here in Nigeria, he said.

Obaji said that the phone came with BlackBerry Hub, which brought all your messages into one consolidated place including emails, texts and messages from almost any social media account; including WhatsApp.

He said that for reliability, the phone had power to get one through the day with enhanced battery features.

The BlackBerry KEY2 LE features a powerful and efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and battery that can stay powered through a full day and often into a second day of use (22 hours of mixed usage).

With contextual battery reminder, the BlackBerry KEY2 LE will learn from your daily charging habits and calendar appointments to recommend when to charge.

This is to ensure you have the battery power to get through important meetings, trips, and events. Never get caught out again with suddenly needing to charge before going flat.

Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 enables up to 50 per cent charge in just 36 minutes. Turbo Charge your battery and get power fast, to do more, when you need it most.

The BlackBerry KEY2 LE includes enhanced security and built-in privacy features right from the start, he said.

The Vice President, Ngilex Mobile Ltd., Thomas Larson, said that the Blackberry KEY2 LE experience was different, compared with many smartphone options in the market.

Larson said that the phone combined the best of professional and personal use and the price could not be matched.

All our phones come with standard one-year warranty provided by McDorsey Services Company Ltd., he said.

Source: NAN

President Muhammadu Buhari has publicly disagreed with the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress over the right of aggrieved members to seek redress in court.

In a statement by Femi Adesina, the presidents media adviser, President Buhari stressed that if anyone is displeased with the way and manner anything has been done, and feels deprived of his/her rights, then such a person is at liberty to approach the courts for redress.

It was the presidents first public reaction to the discontent within the party over the conduct of primaries, in the selection of candidates for elective offices.

Until now, President Buhari had tried to appease members behind the scenes, begging and cajoling aggrieved members to bury the hatchet.

In a different reaction, the NWC of the party headed by former governor Adams Oshiomhole forbade members from dragging the party to court. It even went further to threaten the litigants.

President Buhari disagreed with the party:

We cant deliberately deny people of their rights. We agreed that party primaries should be conducted either through direct, indirect or consensus methods, and if anyone feels unjustly treated in the process, such a person can go to court. The court should always be the last resort for the dissatisfied. For the party to outlaw the court process is not acceptable to me.

In the statement, President Buhari still favoured non-legal approach for reconciliation of the aggrieved as he urged them to embrace the partys reconciliation panels.

According to Adesina, President Buhari advised members to work with the reconciliation committees empanelled for the six geo-political zones by the APC, and not a purported Presidential Committee on Reconciliation, stressing that the Party is the only body authorised to constitute such committees.

The APC had threatened aggrieved members who have headed to the courts, saying that: The Party intends to activate constitutional provisions to penalise such members as their action is capable of undermining the Party and hurt the Partys interest.

We hereby strongly advise such members to withdraw all court cases, while approaching the appropriate party organs with a view to resolving any outstanding disputes. In addition to this, aggrieved members are urged to take full advantage of the reconciliation committees the Party has put in place.

APC members should understand that as a progressive party that operates on the principle of change, it is not a matter of choice to keep to the rules.

Source: NAN

Jack Ma, founder of Chinese tech giant Alibaba, is among the worlds richest people but he has now emerged as a member of another club: Chinas 89-million-strong Communist Party.

The billionaires Communist bona fides were revealed by the Peoples Daily, the partys official mouthpiece, in an article praising contributors to Chinas development.

He is not the first nor likely the last Chinese super-rich capitalist to join the party, which counts property titan Xu Jiayin and Wanda Group founder Wang Jianlin among its billionaire members.

But Mas membership had not been known until now as Chinas richest man had previously suggested that he preferred to stay out of politics.

In Mondays article, the Peoples Daily said Ma was a party member who has played an important role in pushing Chinas Belt and Road global trade infrastructure initiative a pet project of President Xi Jinping.

He has also been honoured as one of the outstanding builders of socialism with Chinese characteristics in Zhejiang Province, where Alibaba is based, the daily said.

Joining the party can be helpful to private businessmen and women in the country as they navigate a complicated business environment where the state-led economy dominates many industries and private business can be unwelcome.

Xi has renewed a push to expand the Communist Partys influence in private business, requiring any company with more than three party members to set up a party cell, or lacking numbers, join with nearby firms.

Three in four private companies already host party organisations.

We must do a good job in the education and management of party members and guide them to play an active role, Xi told officials in Shanghai earlier this month, noting the increase in private employment and new types of employment.

Xi is pushing to further intertwine the party and business, with the latest rewrite to the rules for party organisations published Sunday by official news agency Xinhua.

In private companies party cells should guide and supervise the enterprise to strictly abide by national laws and regulations, the draft order says, according to Xinhua.

Ma did not reveal his Communist Party membership in paperwork filed for Alibabas 2014 initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. It is not known if Ma was a member at the time.

A spokeswoman for Alibaba declined to comment.

Ma who announced in September that he would step down as head of Alibaba next year has previously indicated he preferred to keep the Chinese state at arms length.

My philosophy is to be in love with the government, but never marry them, he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2007.

But party members must hold up their right fist and recite an oath upon joining.

Be loyal to the party, work actively, fight for communism all ones life, always be prepared to sacrifice everything for the party and people, and never betray the party, they recite.

*AFP

Source: NAN

Isiaka Adegboyega Oyetola will be sworn in today as the new governor of Osun state, succeeding Rauf Aregbesola, who has completed an eighth-year tenure.

Oyetola is the fifth civilian governor of the state, created in August 1991. Others before him were Isiaka Adeleke, who ruled between 1992 and 1993, Chief Bisi Akande,(1999-2003), Olagunsoye Oyinlola(2003-2010) and Rauf Aregbesola(2010-2018).

The swearing in ceremony will take place at the Osogbo Township Stadium today, with the former governor retiring to Ilesa, his hometown.

Oyetola, the 64 year-old new governor won the post with the smallest margin ever in Nigerias governorship elections, defeating the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, after a rerun with 482 votes.

Adeleke is disputing the verdict at the election tribunal.

The election held on 22 September went into a rerun in some seven polling units. The PDP candidate had led the APC candidate with 353 votes before the rerun.

The difference was wiped out in the rerun, with the Social Democratic Party candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, who was the second runner up in the first election, going into alliance with the APC.

The alliance was the game changer as Omisore gave the APC candidate, the votes needed in Ile-Ife to wipe out the PDP candidates lead.

Oyetola was born in Iragbiji in Boripe LGA of Osun State on 29 September 1954.

He went to Ifeoluwa Grammar School in Osogbo for his secondary education which he completed in 1972

He was a graduate of University of Lagos and had a B.Sc (Hons) Insurance in 1978 and MBA in Finance in 1990.

He is also an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute, London and Nigeria and a Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management.

He started his Insurance Career with Leadway Assurance Company after his NYSC in Maiduguri in 1980 as an Assistant Manager and rose to the position of Area Manager, Control Office, Lagos.

He worked at Crusader Insurance as Underwriting Manager, Corporate Alliance Insurance as Controller Technical before he left to set up Silvertrust Insurance Brokers in 1990. He was on the Board of many companies.

He was the Executive Vice Chairman of Paragon Group of Companies with interest in Oil and Gas, Real Estate, Stock Broking etc. until his appointment as the Chief of Staff to the Governor of the State of Osun.

He is happily married and has children.

Oyetola will be inheriting a load of economic and financial problems in the state, with the state owing workers salaries and pensions to retirees. However, junior workers were consistently paid.

The new governor is expected to deploy his financial skills to overcome the problems.

Source: NAN

The parliament in the United Kingdom will vote on 11 December, after five days of debate, whether to accept or reject the Brexit deal agreed with the European Union on Sunday.

Prime Minister Theresa May, who will start a campaign today to sell the deal in Wales and Northern Ireland, has warned parliamentarians that Britain would be thrust into the unknown if the deal is rejected, as lawmakers from all sides lined up to criticise the agreement.

Under the deal secured with EU leaders on Sunday, Britain will leave the bloc in March with continued close trade ties, but the odds now look stacked against May getting it approved by a divided British parliament.

As May tried to win over her critics, lawmakers from both her own Conservatives and opposition parties attacked the deal, warning that parliament would not support it, and urging her to set out an alternative plan.

There is not a better deal available, May told the House of Commons. We can back this deal, deliver on the vote of the referendum and move on to building a brighter future .. or this House can choose to reject this deal and go back to square one.

No-one knows what would happen if this deal doesnt pass. It would open the door to more division and more uncertainty, with all the risks that will entail.

May has warned lawmakers that if they reject it, Britain could face leaving the EU without a deal something businesses say would hurt the worlds fifth larges

The EU has also been clear that there is very little appetite to reopen the Brexit negotiations if parliament votes it down.

Her plan faces opposition from both eurosceptics and europhiles among her partys 314 lawmakers and around 313 lawmakers from opposition parties. The 10 lawmakers of the Democratic Unionist Party, the Northern Irish group that props up Mays minority government, said at the weekend they will vote against the deal.

May needs to win a simple majority in parliament 320 votes if all active lawmakers turn out and vote but former whips, who have long studied parliamentary arithmetic, say the prime minister may end up needing only 305 votes if illnesses and abstentions are accounted for.

This will never get through it is as dead as a dodo, Conservative lawmaker Mark Francois said, adding he agreed with the Sun newspapers verdict that the deal was a surrender.

Prime Minister I plead with you, the House of Commons has never ever surrendered to anybody and it wont start now.

Asked if May was confident of getting a deal through parliament, her spokesman told reporters: Yes.

May said her deal was in the national interest, but opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said ploughing on with a deal that did not have the support of parliament was an act of national self-harm.

Her de facto deputy David Lidington will meet Labour lawmakers on Monday to discuss the deal, her spokesman said, in a move seen by many as an attempt to win their support.

May sought to reassure pro-Brexit lawmakers angered by comments from French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday demanding access to UK fishing waters after Brexit.

These remarks deepened worries that Britain will be forced into a so-called backstop to avoid a return of controls on the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish republic.

Theresa May starts the hard sell of Brexit deal
The EU have maintained throughout this process that they wanted to link overall access to markets to access to fisheries. They failed in the Withdrawal Agreement, and they failed again in the Political Declaration, May said.

It is no surprise some are already trying to lay down markers again for the future relationship, but they should be getting used to the answer by now: it is not going to happen.

Source: NAN

Super Eagles captain, Mikel Obi has floated a football talent fishing programme, that he styles Africas Next Football Superstar.

The programme, which is for kids across Africa is the initiative of the football stars Mikel Obi Foundation. African kids aged between 12 and 16 will participate.

The event will take place in Nigeria, South Africa and Algeria, with each country holding three different trials in three cities.

In Nigeria, the trials will take place in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt. Each country will have five winners, with the 15 reduced to nine players, who will be given an opportunity to have trials with a top English club.

Mikel, the former Chelsea midfielder, who now plays in the Chinese Super League, said having tasted life on the streets, he wanted to use the project to take kids off the streets and help them realise their dreams as world-class footballers.

Im so grateful to be the captain of the Nigerian football team, so this is for me now to give back to the kids. This is why the Mikel Obi Foundation and Africas Next Football Superstar, we want to make sure we help kids achieve their goals to become the next superstars, he said.

Mikel has hit the road to get heavyweight endorsement for the project.

On Monday, he visited the former governor of Lagos, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to get his support. Tinubu gave his endorsement, without hesitation.

To hear of your programme, through your foundation to help the kids to achieve their talents in football is commendable. I will commit myself to supporting you in any way you seek. We regard you as a family member of this house. I support initiatives like yours in art, culture, music and other areas. So, I will commit myself to this, for you to even inspire the nation more. Im proud of you, Tinubu stated.

Source: NAN

Tekno, Nigerian popular hip-hop maestro, is reported to have temporarily damaged his vocal box and has therefore taken time off music to overcome the set back.

Triple MG boss Ubi Franklin revealed that Tekno will be taking time off the music industry.

Franklin unveiled the reason for Teknos long absence from the industry in a statement released on his Instagram where he confirmed that the singer had damaged his vocal box temporarily.

He wrote: @ubifranklintriplemg His vocal box is temporarily damaged due to strain from overtime performances and cannot sing or perform for a while.

Franklin explained that Tekno has been having tough times lately due to the ailment.

These past few months have been trying times for your favorite boy Tekno Miles.

He tried to downplay the severity of his ailment, but after several diagnoses doctors have advised that he takes time out to fully recover.

Franklin appealed to Teknos fans to put him in prayers and send love and positivity his way considering the Pana crooner is going through tough times.

The management reassured fans that despite Teknos absence, there will be some music released.

He also wants to reassure his fans that they have nothing to worry about because he has put in so much work, so a lot of great music will be put out.

NAN recalls that in April, 2017, Tekno was forced to cancel booked shows after he was admitted in an American hospital for acid reflux.

In 2018, Tekno released three non album singles including Jogodo, Your love, and Choko.

Tekno won the Best New Act at the MTV Africa Music Awards in 2016 and was nominated for the Best International Act Africa at the BET Award 2017. (NAN)

Source: NAN

Source: NAN

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari has extended his condolences over the passing of former Military Governor of the defunct North Central State, retired Brig.-Gen. Abba Kyari.

President Buharis condolence message is contained in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Sunday evening.

The president also condoled with the government and people of Kaduna, Katsina and Borno states over the demise of the elder statesman.

He said: We are extremely saddened by the news of Gen. Abba Kyaris passing away, an officer and a gentleman for whom we have a lot respect.

President Buhari prayed to God to accept his soul, and grant fortitude to the family and friends he left behind to bear the loss.

Source: NAN