Codeine ban: NDLEA intensifies Cameroon border survillance
News & Trends •
the national drug law enforcement agency ndlea adamawa command says it has commenced intensive surveillance on major routes along the nigeria-cameroon border1 ndlea said the move was sequel to the federal government ban on the production and importation of codeine into the country1 the news agency of nigeria nan reports that the federal ministry of health had directed ndlea offices across the country to ensure strict surveillance of the borders1 speaking with the news agency of nigeria nan on thursday in yola mr. yakubu kibo ndleas commander in adamawa said that the command had taken strategic measures to comply with the federal government directive1 as you are aware adamawa has porous borders with cameroon republican five of the seven local government areas affected by boko haram in the state are directly on the border with cameroon1 but we have intensified surveillance in collaboration with of sister agencies in these areas to frustrate any attempt to import the substance into the country1 kibo said that the command recently destroyed over 14000 tonnes of hard drugs four tonnes of which were cough syrup with codeine1 he gave an assurance that the command would frustrate all possible moves to bring the banned drugs into the state and the country in general1

Melaye remains in police custody till June
News & Trends •
the senator landed in the national hospital after jumping out of a moving police vehicle on tuesday april 242 he was brought in a toyota hiace police ambulance bus with registration number npf2214d.it was learnt that some journalists who had laid siege to the courtroom were asked to step out for security screening1 the court in lokoja kogi state ordered that he be remanded in police custody and be brought to court on june 111 the lawmaker was brought to court in a police ambulance at about 917 am and was immensely stretchered into the court by policemen1 before his arrival heavily armed policemen taken positions within and outside the court premises to forestall unforeseen circumstances1 the arrival of the senator in court attracted the attention of workers and others who came for transactions1 other courts within the premises were also not sitting as at the time of this report1 also journalists and other persons that had seated in court for hours were all asked to go out for security checks1 at the end only few were allowed inside1 the senator had before being brought to court was first taken to the sars headquarters near the nta office in lokoja1 melaye was declared wanted following his refusal to appear before the police to answer to accusations by some arrested suspects who alleged that the senator supplied them with arms and ammunition1 according to reports melaye was conveyed in an ambulance by the police authorities to lokoja1 melaye was later brought into the lokoja senior magistrates court 2 on a stretcher source said1 melaye who is representing kogi west senatorial district at the senate lost his bid to secure bail as the chief magistrates court refused his request1 in order to face the pending criminal case in kogi dino melaye was re-arrested on wednesday after his arraignment in court and perfecting his bail conditions1 the lawmaker representing kogi west was arraigned by the police on wednesday at chief magistrate court in wuse in abuja1 he was granted bail in the sum of n90 million by the court having met the bail condition but was rearrested by the police shortly after his release1 the police in a statement on wednesday said melaye was re-arrested for his pending offences of criminal conspiracy and unlawful possession of prohibited firearms1 the statement which was signed by the force public relations officer mr. jimoh moshood explained that melaye will be arraigned without further delay1 the police investigation team re-arrested senator dino melaye today 2nd may 2018 after his arraignment at chief magistrate court wuse for the pending offences of criminal conspiracy and unlawful possession of prohibited firearms already filed in a court of competent jurisdiction in lokoja for which he will be arraigned without further delay he said1 moshood said that melaye was arraigned in abuja today for criminal conspiracy causing damage to government property attempted suicide and escape from lawful custody1 melayes arraignment in court today according to the police was subsequent to his discharge from the national hospital after he was confirmed fit for trial1 embattled sen. dino melaye who was arraigned in court on thursday in lokoja may have to stay longer with the police as the court has directed he should be remanded in police custody till june 111 the police vehicle was conveying him to lokoja kogi state where he is expected to be interrogated by the police in connection with the allegation that he armed some thugs and in relation to other criminal activities1 the police subsequently accused him of making an attempt to commit suicide by jumping out of the vehicle conveying him and falling on the ground with a threat to implicate the police for his supposed death1 he was also said to have resisted a further attempt by the police to re-arrest him with the help of some persons who allegedly threatened to injure the police officers if they tried to arrest him1

Melaye remanded in police custody
News & Trends •
senator dino melaye has been remanded in police custody until 11 june by a lokoja senior magistrates court1 the order was made today after he was arraigned at the court1 the senator who represents kogi west was brought in a police ambulance at about917 a.m. and was immediately stretchered into the court by policemen1 before his arrival heavily armed policemen had taken positions within and outside the court premises to forestall unforeseen circumstances1 the arrival of the senator in court attracted the attention of workers and others who came fortransactions1 other courts within the premises were also not sitting as at the time of this report.also newsmen and others that had seated in court for hours were all asked to go out for security checks.at the end only few were allowed inside1 the senator was charged with illegal supply of arms and money to two thugs who were arrested earlier and were said to have made confessions1 the senator had before being brought to court first been taken to the sars headquarters near the nta office in lokoja1 melaye yesterday was arraigned at a magistrates court in abuja and was granted bail for n90 million1 the police immediately rearrested him1

Two sisters in court for beating up Policeman
News & Trends •
he said the sisters and one emeka a teenager assaulted insp. bitrus zingkur by tearing his uniform and also dragged his service gun while performing his lawful duty1 the police on thursday arraigned two sisters favour ajula and oluchi ajula in an ikeja magistrates court accused of assaulting police inspector by tearing his uniform and dragging his gun1 the duo who reside at iju-ishaga in agege area of lagos however pleaded not guilty and were granted bail in the sum of n50000 each with two sureties each in like sum1 george said the sureties should be gainfully employed and must show evidence of two years tax payment to the lagos state government and adjourned the matter until may 14 for mention1 the prosecutor sgt. godwin awase told the court that the defendants committed the offences on april 13 at their residence1 favour a 24-year-old hairdresser and 18-year-old oluchi a nurse appeared before magistrate f.f. george on a two-count charge of conspiracy and assault1 awase said a man went to report to the police that the defendants were after his life1 he added that one uche prince a co-tenant reported the defendants to police that they wanted to kill him and the complainant followed him to the house1 when the complainant tried to mediate and settle the disagreement the two sisters assaulted him1 the prosecutor said the offence contravened sections 174b and 411 of the criminal law of lagos state 2015revised1 section 174 stipulates three years imprisonment for assault while section 411 attracts two years jail term for conspiracy1

UN warns Trump against scrapping Iran Nuclear deal
News & Trends •
united nations secretary-general antonio on thursday warned against scrapping an international deal on irans nuclear programme unless there was a good alternative in place1 u.s. president donald trump has been threatening to pull out of the agreement leading to diplomatic tensions with iran as well as with u.s. allies keen to preserve the agreement1 according to him if one day there is a better agreement to replace it it is fine but we should not scrap it unless we have a good alternative1 i believe the jcpoa the iran nuclear deal was an important diplomatic victory1 i think it will be important to preserve it but i also believe there are areas in which it will be very important to have a meaningful dialogue because i see the region in a very dangerous position1 i understand the concerns of some countries in relation to the iranian influence in other countries of the region so i think we should separate things guterres stressed1

Eagles will defeat DR Congo Asst. Coach
News & Trends •
super eagles assistant coach salisu yusuf said on monday that the super eagles would defeat dr congo in their may 28 friendly slated for abuja2 yusuf who made the statement in an interview with the news agency of nigeria nan in abuja that the eagles would use the match to send signal of hope to nigerians1 he described friendly matches as fundamental in shaping the fitness of teams adding that friendly matches were not just meant to record victory but to strengthen teams1 we are sure of winning congo dr in order to keep our hope in the world cup alive and tell nigerians that we are very ready for the task ahead1 the coach pleaded with nigerians to continue to support the team assuring that the eagles would not disappoint1 he said that the eagles were one of the best teams in africa noting that the team had demonstrated its ability at different times1 yusuf noted that nigeria had done well in both qualifications and preparations for the world cup1 he said that the eagles were determined to make not just nigeria but africa proud in russia1 the nigeria football federation recently announced a change in the venue of the nigeria-dr congo friendly from uyo to abuja1

16 clubs for 2018 Enugu State Federation Cup
News & Trends •
the federation cup by its nature is a knock out tournament1 sixteen football clubs in enugu state will be locking horns in the 2018 edition of states federation cup1 francis ugwu secretary of enugu state football association told nan on tuesday in enugu that the states federation cup matches would be a 21-day fiesta1 ugwu said that it would commence on may 5 while the finals would be played on may 261 he noted that all the matches would be played at the nnamdi azikiwe stadium enugu the cathedral1 the news agency of nigeria nan reports that states federation cup is a prelude to the national federation cup which comprises of 62 teams1 where clubs must win each match or loss and crush out of the tournament entirely1 we are expecting that among the 16 clubs a winner and a runners-up will emerge and they will represent the state at the national federation cup coming up later in the year he said1 ugwu said that the clubs participating in the 2018 edition included rangers international fc crime busters fc purple krown fc and vemard africa fc1 others are ingas international fc el-nahog fc fc international flying angels fc samba fc and disdevt fc1 the rest includes enugu angels fc coal city youths fc fc miserere lamray fc fc star-plus and rangers feeders fc. nan1

Salah voted England footballer of the year
News & Trends •
what a race it has been between two players who in a relatively short time have reached genuine world class. but mo salah is the worthiest of winners1 liverpools egyptian forward mohamed salah has been voted player of the year by the football writers association fwa to complete the double of english soccers major individual awards1 the 25-year-old is the first african player to win the fwa award which began in 19481 salah narrowly beat manchester city midfielder kevin de bruyne in a ballot of over 400 fwa members with the winning margin less than 20 votes1 tottenham hotspur striker harry kane was placed third1 salah was chosen as player of the year by the professional footballers association pfa after an outstanding season in which he has scored 43 goals in all competitions1 he is also the first african to receive the award and we congratulate him on a magnificent season fwa chairman patrick barclay said1 salah has helped liverpool who are third in the english premier league into the champions league semi-finals for the first time in 10 years1 the merseyside club face as roma in the second leg in the italian capital on wednesday and lead 5-2 from the opening game at anfield in which salah scored twice and set up two other goals1 salah will head to the world cup in russia in june to play for egypt who have been drawn with the hosts saudi arabia and uruguay in group a1 the inaugural fwa womens footballer of the year award was won by chelsea and england forward fran kirby who was also crowned pfa womens player of the year last month1

Madrid through to third UEFA Champions League final
News & Trends •
bayern came without a host of star players with javi martinez arturo vidal arjen robben jerome boateng kingsley coman and manuel neuer all injured. martinez was fit enough to make the bench1 karim benzema showed he still has fire power as his brace helped real madrid to level scores with bayern munich in the second leg of the uefa champions league semi-final and scrape qualification for the final in kiev on 26 may1 joshua kimmich had opened scoring for the visitors in the third minute. but benzema neutralised the goal in the 11 minute with a header. and he shot madrid ahead one minute after the second half started after aa dreadful error by bayern goalkeeper sven ulreich1 former madrid player james rodriguez was on song for bayern in the 63rd minute in the nervy match in which bayern dominated possession 61-39. bayern also had more shots on target 8-3 with madrid keeper keylor navas doing the yeomans job of saving many goal moves1 the victory over bayern munich will be madrids third consecutive final. they become the first club in history to reach three straight european cup finals for the second time1 they will know their opponent tomorrow after the match in rome between liverpool and roma. liverpool led the first leg 5-21 benzemas two goals on tuesday night were another feather in the cap for coach zinedine zidane who had decided to start the french striker despite only one goal in his previous 12 games1 it was another brave call from reals coach who now stands on the brink of history himself with carlo ancelotti and bob paisley the only other managers to have ever won europes premier competition three times1 zidane also sprung a surprise by dropping casemiro to the bench and bringing the more mobile mateo kovacic into midfield while lucas vazquez played in the unfamiliar role of right back1 it meant no place again in the starting line-up for gareth bale who was named as a substitute for the fifth time in six knock-out matches. he replaced benzema in the second half1 at the final whistle it was all square atsantiago bernabu with both teams tied 2-2. but madrid escaped with the 2-1 advantage recorded in munich last week making aggregate score 4-31 kimmich had given bayern the lead after 28 minutes at the allianz arena and here he did it in three slamming home after sergio ramos poked corentin tolissos cross straight to his feet1 real were rattled their fans tetchy and if bayern had held on for longer the pressure might have told. instead the home side were level by the 11th minute benzema peeling free of david alaba at the back post and heading in1 marcelo and toni kroos both weaved their way into bayerns six-yard box but failed to pick a final pass while at the other end vazquez was enduring a torrid time at right back1 after another ball was threaded inside the wingers left shoulder robert lewandowski unleashed and james should have scored but was unable to adjust his body to the follow-up1 a breathless opening 45 minutes ended with bayern wanting a penalty as the ball struck marcelo on the arm but referee cuneyt cakir waved away the appeals1 real were certainly the more relieved to hear the half-time whistle but they were given a gift shortly after the restart1 tolissos backpass was misjudged and underhit but ulreich still had the chance to clear. instead the keeper got his feet in a tangle and ended up in a heap on the floor presenting benzema with an open net1 the game looked finished but bayern came again and after 10 minutes of desperate real defending it was no surprise when they scored. james chased down his own rebound before beating keylor navas at the near post. the on-loan colombian chose not to celebrate against his parent club1 bayern had 27 minutes to find a third and there were a handful of near misses. thomas muller was denied by navas and mats hummels headed agonisingly wide in injury time but real held on for their fourth final in five years1 with afp report1

Wimbledon announces record 34m prize-pot
News & Trends •
with pound signs dominating the headlines at the club in leafy south-west london tournament organisers also underlined their commitment to combating corruption in the sport and rolling out a sustainability program1 wimbledon announced a hefty 34 million prize-pot on tuesday along with a new sustainability project aimed at ensuring it is not just the grass courts that remain green at the all england club1 that figure includes awards of 2.25 million each for the mens and womens champions an increase on the 2.2 million roger federer and garbine muguruza received in 20171 wimbledons 2018 prize money eclipses the 55 million australian dollars 41.32 million paid out at januarys first grand slam of the year in melbourne but at current exchange rates is just shy of the 39.2 million euros 47.18 million on offer at the french open starting later this month1 organizers also issued a warning that players who compete while knowingly carrying an injury and quit mid-match face being docked all their first-round prize money. the move is aimed at preventing a repeat of the rash of retirements in early action last year1 in the wake of first-round withdrawals we pledged to act on it and we have done so wimbledon chief executive richard lewis told reporters1 we were very influential in the creation and adoption of the 50-50 rule and hope the introduction of it will play a significant role in mitigating the problems of first-round singles retirements1 under the new rule if an injured player withdraws onsite after midday on the thursday before the championships they will receive 50 percent of the first-round prize money. the replacement lucky-loser will get the other 50 percent1 organizers of the oldest grand slam tournament revealed the prize fund the equivalent of 46.57 million for the 2018 championships up 7.6 percent from last year1 central to the greening of the championships is a ban on plastic straws some 400000 were used at last years tournament the introduction of electric vehicles in the courtesy car fleet additional water-fill points around the grounds and the provision of paper bags at wimbledons shops1 sustainability is an important and necessary area of focus particularly for major events lewis said. we have put in place a sustainability vision which is to sustain the running of the club and the championships in a way that minimizes the impact on our environment1 organizers also reiterated they would be implementing rules first announced last november1 in addition to stripping players of their first-round prize money if they pull out of a match or perform to what the club deems below professional standards wimbledon will strictly enforce warm-up timing to speed up the game but will also extend the time allowed between points from 20 to 25 seconds1 the u.s. open the final grand slam of the tennis calendar starting in august is yet to announce its prize money1 wimbledon the only grand slam event to be played on grass will take place from july 2-151 this years championships mark the 150th anniversary of the club 50 years of open tennis and 125 years of the womens singles championships1

Zidane hails gritty Real Madrid
News & Trends •
but now that we are what we have to do is try to win. we will fight to defend our title1 coach zinedine zidane said he would not have wanted it any other way after real madrid scraped their way into a third consecutive champions league final on tuesday1 when joshua kimmich gave bayern an early lead and james rodriguez levelled with 27 minutes remaining real looked in danger of surrendering their 2-1 advantage from the first leg1 by the end reals fans were begging for the full-time whistle and if it is to be liverpool in the final in kiev jurgen klopps men will take heart1 zidane however insists the grit his team have shown to overcome paris saint-germain juve and now bayern should not be underestimated1 in football you have to suffer zidane said. you cannot be in the final without suffering its even better more beautiful when you win like that1 madrid never gives up. it is the same in adversity we believe in what we do and we get things done by believing in ourselves and fighting1 real and zidane are now on the brink of a third consecutive champions league triumph and 13th overall in europes premier tournament1 whether it be liverpool or roma they face in kiev los blancos will be strong favourites to lift the title1 we are only in the final zidane said. you can be happy you have to be it is not normal to be in the final for the third consecutive time1 after their last-gasp win over juventus in the quarter-finals real were left hanging on against bayern munich at the santiago bernabeu as karim benzemas double secured a 2-2 draw and 4-3 win on aggregate1 spectacular navas1 benzemas two goals were also credit to zidane who had picked the striker despite a poor run of form that had included only one goal in 12 games1 he never gave up and im happy for him zidane said. i defended karim as i defend all my players i defend them until the end1 bayern meanwhile are left wondering what might have been after dominating large spells of the two legs but paying a heavy price for individual mistakes1 benzemas second which proved decisive was a gift with goalkeeper sven ulreich making a mess of corentin tolissos under-hit back pass and allowing the frenchman to slot into an open net1 if you look at both games it is quite apparent we were the best team bayern coach jupp heynckes said1 im very disappointed in the result. we dominated i believe and they should thank keylor navas for his performance in goal he was spectacular particularly towards the end of the match1 on ulreichs error heynckes added he had a little blackout he got confused he didnt realise he couldnt pick it up with his hands1 its terrible for a player to live through such a moment but nevertheless we did have a lot of opportunities and all in all our keeper performed well1

APC governor apologises to party members
News & Trends •
speaking at the occasion the secretary to the government of the federation sgf mr boss mustafa stressed the need to abide by the party guidelines for hitch free congresses1 if i offended any of you here please forgive me. i didnt do that deliberately governor muhammadu bindow of adamawa has told party chieftains1 bindow made the plea monday at a stakeholders meeting in yola to discuss the upcoming party congress1 the governor assured all the stakeholders that he has no candidate for the coming party congresses and urged all those seeking positions to go and mobilize support1 my administration is ready to work with all those elected in the congresses he stressed1 bindow expressed satisfaction with the turnout of stakeholders from various interest groups in the state and urged for more unity in the party1 bindow urged stakeholders and other members of all progressives congress apc in the state to forgive him if he wronged them1 we are one family and must not allow internal political bickering to affects our party in the state1 we won in 2015 general election and shall win in 2019 but we need to create a situation that would make it much easier for us to win again mustafa said1 in his remarks the apc national vice chairman north east alhaji mustafa salihu lauded the stakeholders for putting aside their differences to attend the meeting and urged contestants to show sportsmanship1 we must work to retain government at all levels we need to put all our personal interests aside for our party salihu said1 the news agency of nigeria nan reports that former sgf babacir lawan. who also attended the meeting however criticized the meeting for not discussing the issue of zoning ahead of the congresses1 according to him the apc constitution promotes zoning of positions particularly in diverse states like adamawa and wonder why the issue was not discussed.nan1

Imo APC does not know you Okorocha denies Uzodinma
News & Trends •
okorocha said those who wanted to join the party now through backdoors never believed there could be tomorrow1 gov. rochas okorocha has said that the members and leaders of all progressives congress apc in imo are not aware that sen. hope uzodinma has joined the party1 he said leaders of the party including state local government and ward executives as well as national assembly and state assembly members met at imo international convention centre owerri to deliberate on issues1 it is insulting on the party in the state for someone to be talking about joining the party from abuja1 the procedure is that you start from your ward to your local government and then the state and the state will inform the party at the national level that you are now a member the governor said1 he said uzodinma could not come from nowhere to join the party and still believe he could be relevant1 none of the big names in imo politics identified with us when we were forming apc rather they told our people that we were working with muhammadu buhari to islamise the state and igbo land1 they called me alhaji in government house they called me okoro-hausa they attacked us harassed us intimidated us humiliated us with security agents under the goodluck jonathan presidency he said1 the party in the state heard about the rumour of his entry into the party like any other nigerian okorocha said in a statement issued by his chief press secretary mr sam onwuemeodo in owerri on tuesday1 he said unless uzodinma joined apc from the right source we will not welcome him to apc in imo state1 okorocha said that no one should join apc from the window1 the worker deserves his wages and where you have worked is where you will be paid from1 now i have to tell you people all that concerns our party how and where we have to strategise to win the 2019 election1 let me remind you all that this journey didnt start today he said1 uzodinma was among leading members of the ali modu sheriff-led faction of the peoples democratic party pdp who formally defected to apc in abuja on thursday1 the defectors included 34 state chairmen of the group and former senators gbemisola saraki and teslim folarin1 the defectors were led to the apc national secretariat abuja by mr cairo ojougboh and were received by the national chairman of apc chief john odigie-oyegun1

Buhari says Obasanjos letter abusive
News & Trends •
buhari also used the opportunity to debunk the insinuation that christians were being killed by herdsmen1 president muhammadu buhari has for the first time made a brief remark on former president olusegun obasanjos controversial letter and called it abusive1 even when the minister of information and culture wanted to reply that abusive letter written by former president olusegun obasanjo i had wanted lai not to reply to the letter but i said i should allow him to highlight the achievements of our administration1 obasanjo wrote a damning letter on 23 january to president buhari and touted a coalition for nigeria movement which has been launched in abuja to topple the apc and buhari from office1 the movement was launched at the shehu musa yaradua centre 1 buhari in a special interview session with voice of america hausa service in washington united states on tuesday morning dismissed the letter in few words1 on his purported comment on youth while in london president buhari also dismissed the report saying that the media only preferred to interpret and report what they like instead of concentrating on developmental journalism1 you know nigerias population is now between 180 and 190 million and 60 per cent of this population is youth that is 30 years down ward1 you know in the north most youths are uneducated or are school dropouts. if not because we had good harvests in the last two farming seasons the situation would have been worsen1 even if these youths travel out of the north for greener pasture they hardly make it economically because what they earn as income cannot afford them to meet their basic needs or return home1 all these explanations i made they refused to highlight them in their report and you know the media in nigeria in most cases only do what they like1 he said for instance the nations achievements in the agricultural sector where millions of nigerians benefitted financially was left unreported by the media1 buhari said he did not want a response to the letter which derided the government and urged buhari not to seek a second term1 he said that clashes between farmers and herdsmen had been in existence for the past years saying that nigerian herdsmen were not of the habit of carrying dangerous weapons while moving their animals around the country1 buhari said he approved the recruitment of 6000 policemen in addition to the current strength1 the recruitment is part of measures to address the nations security challenges including the clashes between farmers and herders1 buhari is in the u.s. on the invitation of the american president donald trump1 he revealed that additional security measures were being put in place to check cases of insecurity in nigeria1 we will put in place more measures to check insecurity in country including increasing the number of policemen and train them1 i have approved the recruitment of 6000 policemen by the police authorities and i directed that those recruited must come from all the 776 local government areas of the federation1 even if it means recruiting one person each from the 776 they should do that instead of going to motor parks railway stations or market for the recruitment exercise1 i gave police authorities them this directive he said1 in 2015 buhari also approved the recruitment of 10000 policemen1 the president who expressed reservation on the call for the establishment of state police as being advocated by state governors said nigerians must abide by constitutional provision in regard to the matter1

Buharis visit already yielding: U.S. to repatriate $500m
News & Trends •
there is political commitment demonstrated by the two presidents1 the visit of president muhammadu buhari to u.s. president donald trump has yielded the finalisation of negotiations to repatriate more than 500 million dollars about 190 billion naira of nigerias looted money traced to the u.s1 malami explained that the technicalities involved were being taken care of by both officials of the nigerian governments and also from the u.s. side1 he said on the part of assets recovery we have made considerable progress through this visit1 theres goodwill by the two presidents to have a road map for the repatriation of illicit funds and assets traced to the u.s. as proceeds of illicit transactions1 this illicit funds and assets are to the tune of 500 million dollars and above for immediate repatriation1 we are looking at the shortest practicable time for it to be repatriated1 nigerias attorney-general and minister of justice abubakar malami told the correspondent of the news agency of nigerianan in washington dc that he and the attorney-general of the u.s. would be meeting on tuesday to finalise the agreement1 the over 500 million dollars is not all the recovery it is only for the immediate repatriation while we continue with our efforts to recover more1 malami defended nigerias human rights record saying the buharis administration is the first in the history of nigeria to pay compensation for human rights violations1 he said in april the federal government paid n135 million for the eight apo traders who were found to have been victims of extra judicial killings by the nigeria police1 of the police officers indicted two were sentenced to death. the payment of compensation was also as a result of the recommendation by the national human rights commission and government did not appeal against it he said1 he noted that trump approved of what buharis administration is doing1 trump said buhari is a great leader he said he has a great respect for him and he said buhari has cut down on corruption malami said1

Ekiti APC guber election: I wont step down- Bamidele
News & Trends •
let me say that i am on the field in the race and on saturday weare looking forward to getting the ticket by the grace of god hesaid1 a former lagos state commissioner for informationmropeyemi bamidele has vowed not to step down for anyone ahead of saturdays governorship primary election of the all progressives congress apc in ekiti1 he said there was no reason for him to quit when he wasconvinced that he had a good chance of clinchingthe partys ticket1 bamidele stated that with the assurances given by the apc nationalleader bola tinubu and other leaders of the partyat a meetingheld in lagoson friday he had no reason to doubt thecredibility of the process1 he said he expected the party leaders to conduct a free fair and credibleprimary election that would produce a strong candidate capable of defeating the candidate of the ruling peoples democratic party1 it will be tragic for apc to lose after passing throughthis stress so we must do the right thing for us to get the rightresult1 i have traversed all the 177 wards and i am now visiting all the 16local governments in search of delegates1 at 54 if i want to stepdown i wont waste time energy and money moving around. i will noteven pretend in telling the public about it1 bamidele an aspirant made the vow while addressing delegates for the primaries in ado-ekiti describing as laughable the rumour making the rounds that he had stepped down1 counselling the delegates on the choice of candidate they should vote for bamidele saidthey shouldchoosesomeone who has the acceptability and clout to win as well as the knack to organise the party andmake it a formidable force1 apc needs an experienced person and someone with scientificunderstanding of what has gone wrong in ekiti and how to resolve it1 i have been commissioner for over 10 years in executive arm i havebeen amember ofhouse of representatives and i am also a lawyer whichfalls within the judicial arm1 i will not in any way disappoint if given the ticket because i am aloyal party man and i know how to work with everybody to get theuseful result he said1 on the sincerity ofmembers of the chief john oyegun-led national working committee to conduct credible primary election bamidele said i have no reason to doubt their integrity1 all the aspirants had gone through screening and as we were doingthis we were given a copy of delegates list each. we all know whowill vote on saturday1 with this i dont envisage that anyone would try to tamper with thelist or see anyone trying to do accreditation at another locationdifferent from where they will vote which can give opportunity totransport fake delegates to the venue1 the nwc national and zonal leaders as well as the aspirants haveagreed on some pacts and i believe these shall be allowed to prevailin this election1

Sierra Leone: Maada Bio appoints ministers and new chief minister
News & Trends •
the head of the 5050 gender parity groupdr fatu taqi said. while we congratulate the women we are a little bit disappointed that only four of the 27 full cabinet positions went to women1 sierra leones president julius maada bio has appointed 27 ministers four of whom are women and simultaneously created a new super-ministry headed by a chief minister1 as explained in a statement by the presidents office on tuesday professor francis role combines that of the chief of staff in the previous regime. he is like the prime minister the man who will run the government1 according to the statement francis will ensure that the government1 he is expected to provide competent leadership for the day-to-day operational co-ordination oversight monitoring and evaluation of government business1 he will serve as the central hub responsible for the overall co-ordination and facilitates the implementation of the governments strategic priorities1 he will work with all government ministers andco-ordinate the implementation of government policies across all ministries departments and agencies mdas1 as directed by the executive president the chief minister chairs the 3 cross-cutting sectoral ministries for inter-governmental co-ordination including education and social development sector ministries finance and economic development sector ministries and the peace security and justice sector ministries government explained1 the office of the chief minister will also supervise the directorate of presidential infrastructural projects and service delivery dpipsd directorate of strategy policy and planning dspp directorate of performance management monitoring and evaluation dpmme millennium challenge coordinating unit mccu and directorate of institute for science and technology dist. a permanent secretary will provide the administrative leadership for the office of the chief minister1 women advocates have criticised the new government for appointing only four women into the 27-man full cabinet positions . one of the women appointed is nabeela tunis wife of the parliamentary leader of the governing slpp party1 appointed to run the super ministry is professor david francis maada bios former teacher at bradford university in uk and chairman of the transition committee1 she urged the president to put on the gender lens in appointing people to ambassadorial and parastatal positions1 most of the nominees are from the southeastern stronghold of the presidents party although there are northerners in senior positions such as education health trade and youth affairs1 president maada bio also gave ministerial slots to members of other political parties excluding the former ruling apc. the presidential running-mate of the adp party which did not support bio in the runoff poll haja isata abdulai-kamara was appointed as non-cabinet minister resident minister northwest1 charles margai presidential candidate of of pmdc party which backed bio is attorney general1 another non-slp member appointed is peter bayuku konteh. he heads the ngc party and was a former apc cabinet minister. he is the new minister of trade-designate1 full list of cabinet and non-cabinet ministers1 chief minister professor david francis finance minister jacob saffa attorney general and minister of justice charles margai attorney general minister of primary and secondary education alpha timbo minister of health dr alpha wurie minister of energy kanja sesay minister of information and communications mohamed swarray minister of marine resources emma kowa minister of labour adekunle king minister of water resources dr jonathan tengbe minister of social welfare gender1 resident ministers1 1. resident minister south mr. mohamed k. alie 2. resident minister east mr. andre 3. resident minister north mr. abu abu koroma 4. resident minister north west haja isata abdulai-kamara1

Kanye West provokes fresh backlash calling slavery choice
News & Trends •
he enraged many fellow artists but was embraced by conservative commentators as he praised trump who has since cited the rappers words as evidence of minority support1 rapper kanye west on the receiving end of criticism in the music world after backing president donald trump sparked fresh outrage tuesday when he called slavery a choice1 you hear about slavery for 400 years. for 400 years that sounds like a choice west told tmz live the broadcast wing of the celebrity gossip site1 west elaborated little on his statement but appeared to be drawing a parallel to how he is presumed to hold certain views as an african american artist1 were mentally in prison. i like the word prison because slavery is too direct to the idea of blacks. like holocaust is jews slavery is blacks west said1 wests remarks immediately sparked an uproar on twitter his favorite medium and he was taken to task live by a tmz employee who said he was appalled1 the 40-year-old rapper designer and husband of reality television star kim kardashian re-emerged last month after a year-long absence that followed a purported mental breakdown1 the rapper never shy about expressing himself made the comments in passing during one of two free-flowing interviews he gave as he promotes two upcoming albums1 in a separate interview with radio host charlamagne tha god west said he had not followed trumps policies but when i see an outsider infiltrate i connect with that1 west who in 2005 made headlines by saying that then president george w. bush doesnt care about black people is one of the few prominent african americans to support trump1 the president built his political career by promoting unfounded conspiracy theories about his predecessor barack obamas birthplace and has been embroiled in a number of racial controversies since taking office1 speaking to charlamagne tha god west said he was upset that obama invited other rappers to the white house such as kendrick lamar and jay-z1 obama in off-record small talk with a reporter in 2009 that leaked called west a jackass after the rapper disrupted the mtv video music awards to say that taylor swift did not deserve her prize1 you know he never called me to apologize west said explaining that obama had met him and his mother before being elected president1 the same person who sat down with me and my mom i think should have communicated with me directly1

Stagnating Imo workers get automatic promotion
News & Trends •
make sure you have your pvcs. the pvc story is not favourable to south-east which has the least number of pvcs1 after seven years of stagnation all public workers in imo state are to enjoy automatic promotion1 okorocha gave the approval at the 2018 workers day celebration held at the heroes square owerri on tuesday1 he said the automatic promotion was to make up for the non-promotion the workers have suffered for seven years1 workers are the life wire of every organisation. i salute your courage your commitment and resilience during the trying times with numerous challenges ranging from insecurity lack of infrastructure and low remuneration1 you have remained partners in the success story of this administration. i am not unmindful of your needs. i am ready to pay you allowances even sleeping and absenteeism allowances he said1 on the minimum wage the governor assured the workers that whatever the federal government had agreed to pay workers imo government will not be found wanting1 he said his government was able to reduce imo pension from n1.7 billion to n700 million which would make for easy payment1 okorocha called on the workers to ensure they registered at the ongoing registration of voters saying their vote is their power to vote in people of their choice during election1 there is need for you to keep our legacies. shine your eyes to choose government that will replace me1 governor rochas okorocha announced the approval of the promotion for all workers on tuesday as part of his package for workers supportive role to his administration1 at the rate we are going it will come to a point where ndigbo will become an inconsequential factor in national politics the governor said1 the state chairman trade union congress tuc imo state council on behalf of the organised labour complained of ill treatment meted to nigerian workers by subsequent governments1 he said that the labour union had contributed immensely towards the political development of the country but had faced a lot of challenges in the efforts towards national development1 he said this was because those in authority are not concerned about the country and the welfare of its citizens but their personal interests1 akanazu said that while the working condition in america and other countries continued to improve for the better that of workers in nigeria had continued to degenerate1 he however noted that despite the challenges posed by government at various levels the labour movement had continued to exist waxing stronger to carry out its responsibility to the workers and people of nigeria1 the union leader urged the state government to ensure it honoured the expectation of the workers that their salaries be restored to 100 per cent as against the current 70 per cent to 80 per cent since the countrys economy has improved1 he also called on the governor to pay and reduce the pensions arrears to a reasonable level and ensure that imo was not left behind when the new minimum wage to be announced by the federal government becomes effective1 the news agency of nigeria reports that the highlight of the occasion was the presentation of one million naira to a pregnant woman who led the march of her colleagues at the may day celebration. nan1

25 suspected cultists arrested in Enugu
News & Trends •
police have arrested 25 suspected cultists who gathered for their initiation activities in enugu state1 the enugu state police command said it recovered a locally made single barrel pistol a locally made cut to size single barrel gun four live cartridges and six expended cartridges from the suspects1 the commands spokesman mr. ebere amaraizu said on tuesday in enugu that the suspects were arrested on april 30 at 1 a.m. in a bush at the outskirts of enugu metropolis1 amaraizu said the suspects were arrested by the commands anti-cultism unit through intelligence information1 to this end the operatives of the anti-cultism unit of the command through intelligence information have raided obeagu-amechi awkunanaw bush1 it was reported that 25 youths from various universities polytechnics and some secondary schools in the south-east gathered for their initiation activities into membership of black axe ayes confraternity1 during the well co-ordinated raid which took place inside the bush behind centenary city awkunanaw these suspects were promptly apprehended1 amaraizu noted that the suspects have been helping police operatives in their investigations as it relates their cult activities among other vices1 the command has maintained its readiness and stand and will not rest on its oars in its campaign and onslaught against cultism and other vices among our youths in the state for a safe and secured environment he said. nan1