By Felicia Imohimi

The Management of School of the Blind, Jabi, FCT, on has solicited the support of government for improved funding to ensure academic excellence of the visually impaired pupils.

Mrs Regina Dung, Head Teacher of the school, made the appeal in Jabi on Thursday during a road walk organised by the Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA), in commemoration of the 2018 World Sight Day with the theme Universal Eyecare.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World Sight Day is commemorated globally every second Thursday of October.

The day was set aside by international communities to draw attention of governments and other stakeholders to the challenges facing the populace in respect to eye care.

The head teacher expressed displeasure that the school was poorly funded considering expectations to be met, as well as the enormous challenges of the pupils.

On some of the challenges impeding quality academic performance in the school, Dung said they include lack of teaching aid, inadequate funding and lack of conducive learning environment

A book for the regular child goes for N50 while a brail paper for the visually impaired child goes for N3,500.

The environment is not conducive for the visually impaired people to move around independently; so we solicit for government to come to our aid to improve their learning skills and well-being.

So, if government is allocating one million naira to regular schools, it should allocate three million to visually impaired schools; this will enhance academic performance.

Also, 80 per cent of the visually impaired pupils are from poor socio-economic background and cannot afford the cost of these aids.

Ordinary N5,000 would have prevented majority of them from going blind but due to poor financial status of their parents, they find themselves in this condition, the head teacher said.

Speaking on behalf of the pupils of the school, Blessing Okon, a visually impaired, commended NOA for counting them worthy to participate in the commemoration.

She, however, noted some of their challenges to include inadequate computers, lack of brail machines and typewriters.

According to her, if these machines are available in the school, it will go a long way to aid their writing skills and capability.

When I got blind some years ago, I thought all hope of schooling was gone.

I never knew that being handicapped does not deter anyone from forging ahead academically.

Though we still lack a lot of facilities in the school but the school has really helped us, she said.

Source: NAN

Libya coach Adel Amrouche has resigned just days before his side face Nigeria in an African Nations Cup qualifier. The match is billed for Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.

His departure has been confirmed by the Libyan Football Federation and on Wednesday by Belgian Amrouche, who told the media that he was frustrated by working conditions with the team.

The 50-year-old, who was born in Algeria, was only appointed in May and his first match in charge last month saw Libya force a 0-0 draw in South Africa.

They were forced to play all their home qualifiers at a neutral venue because of the tenuous security situation in the North African country.

Libya travel to face Nigeria on Friday and then play them again in the return in Sfax, Tunisia on Monday.

Libya have four points from their first two games in their bid to qualify for the 2019 finals in Cameroon, ahead of South Africa on goal difference with Nigeria one point behind.

The Seychelles are last in the group without any points.

Source: NAN

The only female senator from the North in the National Assembly, Sen. Binta Masi Garba of Adamawa North Senatorial, said the automatic ticket granted her by the All Progressives Congress to re-contest in 2019, came to her as a big surprise.

Masi, 51, who emerged unopposed, told newsmen in Yola Tuesday that her endorsement by the All Progressives Congress and delegates in the just concluded party primaries , was touching and an indication that her past efforts had been appreciated.

Masi said she was overwhelmed by the show of love and support she had been getting from the party and government of Gov. Muhammadu Bindow.

The endorsement came as a big surprise to me because I never expected it; it shows that my stewardship as legislature is appreciated by my constituency.

I feel humbled and honoured. Its a new challenge put to me to do more for my constituency, which has suffered insurgency, Masi said.

She also expressed her excitement with the emergence of another female senatorial candidate under APC in Adamawa, Hajiya Aishatu Ahmed.

Masi said that the emergence of Hajiya Ashatu Ahmed as the candidate of APC for Adamawa Central Senatorial district, making them two female APC candidates in Adamawa, was heart-warming.

We need more women in the National Assembly,irrespective of political party. The plight of Nigerian women would bind us together to work for common interest, Masi said.

Binta was born in Kaduna on 17 April, 1967. Her father was a soldier, who was once the driver of former military ruler, Ibrahim Babangida.

Between 1975 and 1981, she attended Army Children School, Kaduna and went on study for OLevel at Government Day School, Kurmin Mashi, Kaduna South, between 1981 and 1987.

She then went to Kaduna Polytechnic and obtained Ordinary National Diploma in Marketing in 1990 and Higher National Diploma in 1997).

In 2004, while serving in the House of Representatives, she went to Harvard Kennedy School of Government Harvard University (Public Financial Management).

She began her political career in Kaduna in 1999, and won election twice to represent Kaduna South in the House of Representatives. In 2007, she moved to her state of origin, Adamawa, for a third spell in the House of Representatives as a representative of Michika/Madagali constituency.

She however lost her fourth term bid in 2011. But in 2015, from being the first female chairman of a major political party, she won the senate seat to represent, Adamawa North.

Source: NAN

Ariwodola Idowu

The Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC), has advised outgoing Governor Ayo Fayos to look elsewhere for political sanctuary, should he jump out of the PDP.

Chief Paul Omotoso, Chairman of the party in the state, gave the advice in a statement on Tuesday in Ado Ekiti.

Fayose should not think of moving from PDP to APC until he clears himself of several criminal cases hanging on his neck, Omotoso stated.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Omotoso was reacting to reports quoting Fayose as threatening to leave the PDP.

Fayose had threatened to leave the PDP in protest over the outcome of the partys primary election which gave former Vice President Atiku Abubakar the PDP presidential ticket over Fayoses choice, Aminu Tambuwal, the Sokoto State governor.

Tambuwal came second with 693 votes, conceding the ticket to Abubakar, who scored 1,532 votes at the National Convention held on Saturday in Port Harcourt. 12 aspirants battled for the ticket.

Omotoso, in his reaction to Fayoses outburst, advised him to conclude his court cases before contemplating to join APC.

We want to tell the world that the APC will not provide sanctuary for criminal suspects, political prostitutes and lepers.

We will never admit such character to this party and we advise Fayose to play his `politics of destruction somewhere else.

Fayoses prosecution on the alleged poultry project fraud resumes on November 4, 2018.

Fayose cannot turn Ekiti APC to a haven and sanctuary for criminal suspects. He should forget any plan to smear Ekiti APC with criminal records

APC is a political party bounded by common ideals of integrity, openness, discipline and commitment to common goals of progressive governance; Fayose does not possess or believe in these attributes as can be seen from his style of politics and governance

Fayose, over the years, abused, disrespected and openly denigrated President Muhammadu Buhari, the leader of our party who is also the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces.

Fayose is coming to destroy our party and ensure President Buhari does not get a second term in 2019. We wont allow Fayoses evil plan to materialise, he said.

Omotoso warned all ward chairmen, where Fayose lives and runs his businesses, against accepting him into the party.

Our party is not a sanctuary for criminal suspects, political lepers and serial destroyers of the parties they once belonged to.

No ward chairman should open talks with Fayose until such ward chairman clears with the party leadership at the state level, he stated

Efforts to obtain Fayoses reaction to the APCs stance proved abortive as his lines could not be reached while his aides refused to respond to the APC statement. (NAN)

Source: NAN

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has informed the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC that it will not be allowed to field candidates for elective positions in Zamfara state in the 2019 elections.

The commissions acting secretary, Okechukwe Ndeche in a letter to the APC said the party is barred from fielding candidates for governorship, national assembly and state assembly elections, as it failed to comply with Sections 87 and 31 of the Electoral Act of 2010.

Parties according to the act were expected to comply with the timetable and schedule of INEC, which says that the conduct of primaries must be concluded between 18 August and 7 October, 2018.

The APC ran out of time and INEC said it received reports from its Zamfara office, indicating that no primaries were conducted in the state notwithstanding that our officials werte fully mobilised and deployed.

Zamfara problem began when The National Working Committee (NWC) of the party announced the dissolution of Zamfara APC executive committee led by Alhaji Lawali M. Liman.

The sacked leadership however claimed it returned Alhaji Mukhtar Shehu Idris as winner of last Wednesdays botched governorship primary election in the state.

It also declared Governor Abdulaziz Yari as winner of Zamfara West senatorial zones primary election in the state, claiming he polled 166,000 votes.

However, the Major General Abubakar Mustapha Gana-led Zamfara State Electoral Committee, said no primaries took place in the state.

The primary election was rescheduled for last weekend, but Governor Yari threatened to mobilise his supporters to disrupt it.
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Source: NAN

The Sokoto State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Ibrahim Milgoma on Tuesday dispelled rumor that the partys 2019 election flag-bearer, Alhaji Mannir Dan-iya has been substituted.

Speaking to newsmen in Sokoto over the rumour that Dan-iya had been substituted by Gov. Tambuwal after he failed to secure partys presidential ticket was unfounded.

Milgoma explained that at present Dan-iya remained the partys 2019 governorship candidate noting that there was still time to substitute candidate according to the law.

The chairman said the party would formally announce any change if any in future noting that substitution had processes which must be complied with based on electoral guidelines.

Milgoma explained that the event held on Oct.7 at the state party headquarters was to express Gov. Tambuwals appreciation over the support he enjoyed at PDP Presidential primary election in Port Harcourt.

According to him, party members are still united and will continue to support any person that emerged victorious during the concluded primaries and urged loyalists to work toward ensuring maximum success of all party candidates in coming elections.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that speculations were going round that the party had conducted fresh primary and produced Tambuwal as governorship candidate at the 11th hour on Oct. 7, to comply with INEC deadline on conducting primary election.

Source: NAN

The All Progressives Congress(APC) is consulting its lawyers in its legal department to file a reaction on the eligibility of its candidates to run in Zamfara state in the 2019 election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said in a letter today that the party is not eligible to field candidates for governorship, national assembly and state assembly positions in Zamfara.

The letter signed by Okechukwu Ndeche, the commission`s acting Secretary read: Failure to Conduct Primaries in Zamfara State Within the Stipulated Time-frame .

Please refer to the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2019 general elections released by the commission on Jan. 9 2018.

You would note that from the timetable the conduct of primaries is scheduled to take place between August 18 to Oct 7 2018.

However, report received from our office in Zamfara state shows that no primaries were conducted by your party in Zamfara, notwithstanding that our officials were fully mobilised and deployed.

Consequently, based on the provision of Section 87 and 31 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended, the commission does not expect that your party will submit names of any candidate from Zamfara state.

For clarity, our position therefore, is that the APC will not be fielding candidates for the Governorship, National Assembly and State Assembly elections in Zamfara for the 2019 general elections.

However, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt from an authoritative source in the APC National Secretariat, that the party leadership would contact its legal department before responding on the matter.

The APC National Working Committee (NWC) had on Oct. 5, dissolved the party executives at all levels in Zamfara, after contentious primaries said to have been conducted on Wednesday 3 October and 4 October.

Mr Yekini Nabena, the APC acting National Publicity had said that by the decision, all party executives, at all levels in Zamfara were dissolved.

The dissolved party executives had claimed they conducted primaries on 3 October which picked a Yari anointed candidate, Alhaji Mukhtar Shehu Idris as winner of the governorship primary election, and Yari himself as winner of Zamfara West senatorial ticket, in a primary conducted 4 October. The NWC invalidated the results.

The NWC inaugurated a new committee which attempted to conduct the Governorship and Legislative primaries in the State between Saturday October 6, to Sunday October 7.

The panel failed to conduct the elections because of the threats by Governor Abdulaziz Yari to call out supporters in protest.

Source: NAN

(Reuters/NAN)The Tour de France trophy won by Team Skys Geraint Thomas earlier this year has been stolen during a cycle show in Birmingham, the British team said on Wednesday.

The trophy, loaned to bike manufacturer Pinarello, had been on display at venues across the UK along with the teams other grand tour titles but was picked up when left unattended at the NEC in Birmingham recently.

It is incredibly unfortunate that this has happened.

It goes without saying that the trophy is of pretty limited value to whoever took it, but means a lot to me and to the team.

Hopefully whoever took it will have the good grace to return it.

A trophy is important, but clearly what matters most are the amazing memories from this incredible summer and no one can ever take those away, Thomas said in a statement.

Pinarello managing director Richard Hemington said he was devastated by the theft.

We accept full responsibility and have personally apologized to Geraint.

We hope that the trophy can be recovered, Hemington said.

Team Sky said police were investigating the matter and they were liaising with all relevant parties to agree on the best course of action to resolve the issue.

Thomas won the teams sixth Tour de France title in seven years in July.

It was the fourth successive grand tour win for the team after Chris Froome won the Tour and the Vuelta a Espana last year before clinching this years Giro dItalia.

Source: NAN

By Shedrack Frank

No fewer than 500 rice farms at Okpotuwari and Ondewari communities in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa, have been submerged by flood, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Mr Ezekiel Ogbianko, Chairman, Rice Farmers Association in the state, who inspected the submerged farms on Wednesday, called on the federal and state governments to come to the aid of the affected farmers.

At Ondewari, a community leader, Prof. Itimi Godwin, said that the rice farms were ready for harvest before the disaster.

We need a lot of things, particularly we want the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to come and see the level of damage done here.

As you can see, this is a colossal loss; we are calling on the federal government to come to our aid, as the people here are suffering. We need relief materials such as rice, garri, cement and roofing sheets, he said.

NAN recalls that NEMA had earlier said that over 150,000 people have been displaced by flood in Bayelsa this year.

The site manager of Ondewari Rice Farm, Mr Fredrick Adam, said the loss was colossal and the farmers would appreciate immediate support fromgovernment.

Also, the Paramount Ruler of Okpotuwari Community, Chief Tiger Moses, said that the community was expecting bountiful harvest before the flood.

As you can see the flood is very disturbing, our crops have been destroyed, fish settlement and plantain farms are also damaged.

We want the assistance of the federal government and other stakeholders; right now our sources of water have been contaminated, he added.

Source: NAN

By Dorcas Jonah

The National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) has accused major political parties in the country of being unfair to womenfolk in the just concluded primary elections preparatory to 2019 general elections.

Mrs Gloria Shoda, the president of the council, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday that the actions of political parties in the primaries discouraged women from participating further in the electoral process.

We assembled all women aspirants and party leadersin a summit where we discussed and they agreed to give the women a soft landing.

This, however, was not adhered to by the political parties as the cost of nomination forms and violence that ensued at the primaries did not allow women to come out to vote.

Beside this, I dont see how a woman will be able to get N12 million not to talk of N45 million for nomination form for presidency in the case of the Peoples Democratic Parties (PDP) and All Progressives Alliance (APC), respectively.

I watched the just concluded primaries with keen interest; the first thing that struck my mind was the amount women were asked to pay for the nomination forms, she said.

Shoda said that it was worrisome that the APC had no concession for women, asking: How do they expect women to feel?

We hear that the PDP had some concession for women. Women were only asked to pay expression of interest form which was reasonable because women are not moneybags.

Some political parties did not even collect money at all from women to encourage them to participate in the electoral process.

This means that the big parties do not want women to participate in the electoral process further because making nominations forms costly means that women will not participate, she observed.

But NAN reports thatthe wife of the president, Mrs Aisha Buhari, recently assured the women aspiring for elective positions on the platform of All Progressives Congress of her support to achieve the 35 per cent affirmative action for women.

Mrs Buhari gave the assurance when the newly elected APC National women leaders and their women wing in the 36 states and FCT paid her a courtesy visit at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The group including women leaders of North-Central, North-East, North-West, South-East, South-West and South-South were led to the Presidential Villa by the National Woman Leader of APC, Mrs Salamatu Baiwa.

The wife of the president maintained that women were responsible for the successes recorded in many elections in Nigeria.

It is time to start mobilisation of women at the grassroots level because women are responsible for the successes of every elections in Nigeria she said.

Mrs Buhari urged the APC women to always respect the constitution of the party and called on them to continue to support the APC administration.

Source: NAN