President Muhammadu Buhari congratulated the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on his victory in the governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State.

The President extended his goodwill message to the minister in a series of tweets on his personal Twitter handle on Sunday.

He was also optimistic that having won the partys ticket, the former governor would leverage his track record as a reformist who has a passion for education, health and welfare, to reclaim the governorship seat when the state goes to poll on July 14.

President Buhari further applauded other aspirants who took part in the keenly-contested primary.

He urged them to uphold the values and philosophy of the ruling party by coming together to support Dr Fayemi in the forthcoming election, in a bid to ensure the APC emerge victoriously.

The President noted that the ruling party values internal democracy, describing the success of the primary election as another testament to the APCs democratic credentials.

He also assured members of the party and Nigeria that the party would continue to work hard to lead the country to the next level of its development journey.

Congratulations to @kfayemi on winning the APC ticket to contest the July 14, 2018 governorship elections in Ekiti State. I have no doubt that Dr Fayemis track record as a reformistwith a passion for education, health and welfarewill stand him in good stead in the elections.

Congratulations to on winning the APC ticket to contest the July 14, 2018 governorship elections in Ekiti State. I have no doubt that Dr Fayemis track record as a reformistwith a passion for education, health and welfarewill stand him in good stead in the elections.

Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari)

I would also like to commend all the participants in the keenly-contested Primary. I would like them to uphold the values and philosophy of the APC by joining hands to support Dr. Fayemi in the forthcoming elections.

He said that APC has taken internal democracy seriously, and the success of the Ekiti Primary, with more than 30 aspirants, further validates our partys democratic credentials.

Let me assure that we will continue to work hard to lead Nigeria to the next level of its development journey.

He was also optimistic that having won the partys ticket, the former governor would leverage his track record as a reformist who has a passion for education, health and welfare, to reclaim the governorship seat when the state goes to poll on July 14.

President Buhari further applauded other aspirants who took part in the keenly-contested primary.

He urged them to uphold the values and philosophy of the ruling party by coming together to support Dr Fayemi in the forthcoming election, in a bid to ensure the APC emerge victoriously.

Fayemi Reaches Out To Oni, Aluko, Bamisile, 12 Other Co-contestants

Kayode Fayemi 2018 (@VoteFayemi)

The President noted that the ruling party values internal democracy, describing the success of the primary election as another testament to the APCs democratic credentials.

He also assured members of the party and Nigeria that the party would continue to work hard to lead the country to the next level of its development journey.

Also in his reaction, outgoing Ekiti governor, Mr. Peter Ayodele Fayose, expressed happiness that APC has chosen a candidate that the people would reject.

In his tweet, he said: I thank the APC for giving Ekiti people a candidate they love to vote against at all times. Fayemi should not celebrate this pyrrhic victory yet because it is nothing but a flame that will be quenched on July 14. He should expect to suffer worse defeat compared to that of 2014.

I thank the APC for giving Ekiti people a candidate they love to vote against at all times. Fayemi should not celebrate this pyrrhic victory yet because it is nothing but a flame that will be quenched on July 14. He should expect to suffer worse defeat compared to that of 2014.

Peter Ayodele Fayose (@GovAyoFayose)

Source: NAN

Sudan security operatives are reported to have arrested a woman suspected of killing a Nigerian Immigration Attach at the Nigerian embassy in Khartoum.

Mr. Habibu Almu, Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, was found stabbed to death at his home in the Sudanese capital city of Khartoum on Thursday last week.

In a very short statement, the official news agency SUNA said the Sudanese police arrested the offender, a foreign woman who committed the crime.

It further said she confessed to the murder of the diplomat and that she also stole his possessions.

The Sudanese authorities didnt disclose the circumstances of the crime or the nationality of the killer.

The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had, in a statement, explained that a team of policemen moved to the residence of the late Passport Officer and arrested a number of suspected persons as part of investigations into the murder.

It pointed out that it was closely following up all the legal procedures in the incident with the concerned authorities.

The Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, confirmed on Sunday that the Sudanese government had communicated the arrest of the principal suspect to his ministry.

The Federal Government had condemned the murder of the diplomat and pledged to would work with Khartoum to arrest the culprit.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Tope Adeleye Elias-Fatile, had confirmed the report of the assassination in a WhatsApp message on Thursday in Abuja.

The Ministry has received the sad news of the untimely death of the Immigration Attache in our Mission in Khartoum, Sudan.

Nigeria looks to bring to book those behind the murder of immigration attach Habibu Almu.

The Guardian Nigeria (@GuardianNigeria)

Source: NAN

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna State on Sunday rejected the results of local government council elections, saying it would go to court to challenge the outcome of the polls.

The party announced its plans just as its chairmanship candidate in Kachia local council was declared the winner.

Mr Nuhu Garba, SIECOMs returning officer for the council, said Mr Peter Agite of the PDP won the chairmanship seat with 42,242 votes beating his APC counterpart, Peter Dan-Baki, who got 33, 817 votes in the polls.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIECOM) had through its local government returning officers, released some of the results with the ruling APC winning in most of the local government areas released so far.

So far, the APC has won 17 local councils, while PDP has won two. The election in two local councils, Jaba and Kauru was postponed, while tallying has not been concluded for Chikun local council.

There are 23 local councils in Kaduna state.

The Chairman of PDP, Mr Felix Hassan Hyet, who addressed a news conference in his office on Sunday, however, alleged that his party had been shortchanged going by the results released in 13 local government areas of the state.

He said the party would soon release its field results of the just concluded local polls.

According to him, the PDP agents have submitted their reports which, he claimed, were at variance with the results announced by the local government returning officers.

Hyet further claimed that most of the results announced so far were through radio stations rather than the returning officers, whom he alleged disappeared after the conclusion of the election.

The Chairman, however, appealed to the party supporters to remain calm, assuring that the party would follow legal means to address the injustice.

He said the commission should have requested some of the manufacturers of the Electronic Voting Machines stay behind to monitor the machines to avoid malfunction experienced in some polling units.

Hyet alleged that some machines were snatched to unknown destinations and results were later released by the returning officers.

We call you to brief you on the update of the local election results of 13 local government so far released.

Some local government results were not announced by the returning officers but by radio stations. At the moment we have some local government areas like, Kaduna South,Chikun,Kajuru,Jemaa,Kagarko,Sanga, still awaiting to be announced.

The returning officers have disappeared completely. Even some of the wards returning officers also disappeared.

We are waiting for the returning officers to come out and announce the results in local government areas yet to be announced.

Our agents have submitted the results to us and we will take necessary legal steps to address the injustices, Hyet said.

Source: NAN

By Aminu Garko

The Registrar of National Examinations Council (NECO), Prof Charles Uwakwe, has been suspended over alleged financial mismanagement and abuse of office.

Also suspended are two deputy directors in charge of finance and procurement, respectively, in the council.

Rumour had made the rounds that the three top officials of the council had been sacked, but a competent source in the council disclosed on Sunday that the men were on suspension.

According to the source, they are on suspension pending the outcome of investigation of allegation of misappropriation of funds against them.

The source said that the officials were suspended for allegedly awardingcontracts to the tune of N25 billion without following due process.

They were said not to have sought approval fromMinistry of Education, the supervisory ministry or from the Governing Board of the council.

Uwakwe was also alleged to be involved in recruitment in the council without following due process.

I can tell you that nobody was sacked but there was a suspension pending an investigation of certain alleged misdeeds,which details have not been made public, the source said.

The source stated that the most senior Director in the council, Mr Abubakar Gana, had been appointed Acting Registrar.

According to the source, the letter suspending the council officials emanated from the parent ministry.

Another source said that the Non-Academic Staff Union at NECO petitioned the Minister of Education, accusing Uwakwe of financial impropriety, irregular recruitment and flouting of procurement procedures.

All effort to speak with spokesman of the council failed as he did not take calls put to his telephone lines or responded to short messages.

Source: NAN

By Abiemwense Moru

The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has urged media practitioners in the country to refrain from reporting fake news.

Onaiyekan, who gave the advice on Sunday in Abuja at a forum to mark the 2018 World Communications Day, said fake news destroys character and communal living.

He also advised journalists to desist from sharing or lifting unverified sources of information from social media as this is capable of destroying the peaceful co-existence of a country.

Onaiyekan, who was represented by the Director of Social Communications in the Archdiocese, Rev. Patrick Alumuku, said media men must continue to work in truth in pursuit of peace.

The cleric, who spoke on the theme, Journalism for Peace, stressed that communications emanated from God right from creation and the church had always encouraged peaceful and sustainable communication in the family and society.

Media men and women are called to work in truth and in the pursuit of peace. The church wants good news to reach the whole world, but we cant achieve this without the media.

It is as a result of this that the church is investing in the training of media personnel, especially in social media, he said.

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, reiterated the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to uniting the nation and ushering in enduring peace.

He advised Nigerians not to despair but have absolute faith in the ability of the president to bring sustainable development and unity of purpose.

I want to assure you that the president is really working round the clock to ensure that peace is maintained in our nation.

Mr President is committed to improving the lot of the citizenry and I would appeal to Nigerians to give him a chance.

We know things are tough but tough times dont last forever and we shall overcome. I can assure you Nigeria will soon return to its old glory, he said.

In his remarks, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, gave an assurance that the challenges facing the nation would soon be a thing of the past.

He urged Nigerians to believe in the nation, stressing that the hardship many Nigerians may be undergoing would soon end.

We must believe in Nigeria instead of balkanising it. Nigeria may be in distress and this may be a challenging period for some of us but Nigeria will soon overcome this hardship, he said.

Source: NAN

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has come under attack from the Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum over his campaign against President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of the 2019 general elections.

In a strongly worded statement signed by its General Secretary, Akin Malaolu, on Friday night, the group said Obasanjo was trying to deceive Nigerians again with “rhetorical and platitudinous speeches”.

The statement came barely 24 hours after Obasanjo endorsed the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the political platform to be deployed to unseat Buhari in 2019.

Addressing a news conference in Abeokuta on Thursday, Obasanjo said his Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) had adopted the ADC as its political party.

The former leader explained that the adoption followed a “detailed examination and wide consultations by the leadership of the Movement with the consideration of the orientation and policies of the movement”.

On Jan. 23, Obasanjo wrote Buhari criticising him over a number of national issues, including the killings of innocent Nigerians, and advised him against seeking re-election.

The former president upped the ante in a statement by his spokesman, Kehinde Adeyemi, in March describing Buhari as a failure.

Yoruba Ronu, a staunch supporter of the current president, said it was not surprised by Obasanjo’s several statements to hoodwink Nigerians.

The socio-political group said it rather found it surprising that the ex-president and his “fellow travellers took Nigerians for fools”.

It said, “However, Nigerians do sincerely and mournfully remembered what the conditions of things were in relation to unemployment, corruption and general decadence of our many institutions of governance in the 16 years of PDP in power.

“It was not without doubt that the Yoruba Ronu leadership forum warned Nigerians against trusting the candidate Jonathan in 2010 due to his several weaknesses and obtuseness in power.

“More so, when Jonathan himself confirmed to our foreign friend, former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders, that he lacked administrative experience to be president, but was there by chance because of where he came from which was South South.

“Today, we can measure with clarity of mind, the sad and obtuse footprints he left behind.

“Leaders across the two divides, and including Obasanjo, Ohaneze and Afenifere, all saw Jonathan’s incapacitation in administration but they chose self-regarding objectives rather than other regarding objectives in their very many decisions.”

Obasanjo is generally believed to have influenced Jonathan’s emergence as Vice to late President Umaru Yar’Adua in the 2007 general elections.

In the 2011 presidential elections, Obasanjo also played a big role in the election of Jonathan as President after he took over the saddle following Yar’Adua’s death in 2010.

Yoruba Ronu continued, “Democracies which distinguished a man from his office was snubbed for religion and tribalism to hold sway.

“They planted the seed of division long before now and they are still repeating same perplexing errors in their ignorance.

“The people of Nigeria today wear better spectacles and with good perceptions to know what is good for them and for their children’s future.

“They are not going to allow some false leaders and leaders that could commit abomination with ease take away their hopes in the present government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“We must warn against war, because wars have never solved the needs for war anywhere in the world and in wars, procreation is delayed, women and their children would suffer.”

“Nigerians must pray fervently against these ignoble men and their desire to enslave us all, we must pray for the extermination of what they all stands for.

“The progressives and APC must prepare themselves in this war of attrition between thesis and antithesis, a political war that will be won by them due to fairness, justice and happiness, which they have promoted in this present administration of President Buhari.

“Those who may want to go can go in peace, but the generality of Nigerians and the Yoruba race are with Buhari and the APC.

“We awesomely believe in the intervention and righteousness of the present Government in administration.”

Source: NAN

No fewer than 11 Iranians were among those killed in unprecedented Israeli strikes on Syria this week, a monitor said Saturday.

At least 27 pro-regime fighters were killed in Thursdays strikes, said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

He said six Syrian soldiers and 21 foreign fighters, including 11 Iranians were among the dead.

That updates the monitors initial toll of 23, which did not specify the number of Iranians.

The new report is due to the death of wounded or missing persons whose deaths have been confirmed, Abdel Rahman said.

Israel said it struck dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria early on Thursday in response to a salvo of rockets allegedly fired by Iranian forces into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had crossed a red line and that Israels bombardment against targets in Syria was a consequence.

The Jewish state has long warned it will not accept Iran entrenching itself militarily in neighbouring Syria, where the Islamic Republic backs Assads regime in the countrys seven-year civil war.

Israeli forces have been blamed for a series of recent strikes inside Syria that have killed Iranians, though it has not acknowledged those raids.

Israel says it has conducted dozens of operations in Syria to stop what it says are advanced arms deliveries to one of its main foes, Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Source: NAN

North Korea will make a public show of its promise to close its nuclear testing site, north of the country.

According to South Korean news agency, Yonhap,North Korea said it is taking technical measures to dismantle its nuclear test site, moving closer to honouring an offer made by its leader Kim Jong-un during the inter-Korean summit last month.

The Norths foreign ministry issued a press release, carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), detailing the countrys plans to shut down its Pyunggye-ri nuclear test ground.

The English-language statement said the ruling Workers Party and other relevant institutions are taking technical measures for dismantling the northern nuclear test ground in order to ensure transparency of discontinuance of the nuclear test.

During the third inter-Korean summit on April 27, Kim told South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he would carry out the closure of the northern nuclear test site in May, according to Seouls presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae.

Kim also offered to make the dismantling public. And the Norths foreign ministry said the ceremony for the occasion has been scheduled for between May 23 and 25, depending on weather conditions.

Given the limited space, only journalists from South Korea, China, Russia, the United States and Britain will be invited to cover the dismantling on-site, the ministry added.

Source: NAN

Mr. Osita Okechukwu, the Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON),has emerged as a delegate to the forthcoming National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Okechukwu was returned unopposed at the Udi Local Government Area (LG) Congress, held at the Udi APC local government secretariat, 9th Mile Corner, Ngwo, near Enugu.

Two other national delegates, Mr. Charlie Chime and Maureen Anosike, were also returned unopposed at the same venue.

Reacting to his election as national delegate, Okechukwu assured that he would use the mandate given to him to support the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari to revamp coal in Enugu and improve infrastructure in the South-East.

When we came here before, we promised that President Muhammadu Buhari will revamp Enugu coal.

We promised that President Buhari will revamp Enugu-Onitsha expressway, Enugu-Port Harcourt and Enugu-Makurdi expressways. Today, work had started on all of them.

Also contained in President Buharis docket is $50 million dollars for Enugu Urban Water Scheme, Okechukwu said.

In his remarks, Chief Emma Eneukwu, the National Vice Chairman of APC for South-East, lauded the conduct of the congress in Udi council area; stressing that the exercise was free, fair, transparent and credible.

Eneukwu described all those who attended the congress as very committed and trusted party men, pointing out that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and the media were fully represented.

The congress in the council was attended by party bigwigs from the council, which included the Acting Women Leader, Mrs. Oby Nwofor.

Members of the Udi local government executive of the party were also elected during the congress.

They include: Mr Jude Anyadibe as Chairman; Mr Pascal Ojielo as the Deputy Chairman; Mr Felix Okafor as Secretary; Mrs Mabel Owoh as Women Leader; Sylvester Onyia as the Treasurer among others. (NAN)

Source: NAN

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday left Abuja to attend the inauguration of President Julius Bio in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

According to a statement by Mr Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Vice President, Osinbanjo is expected to Abuja later in the evening.

Bio won the countrys presidential run-off election on March 31.

NAN reports that the presidents of Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Gambia have been confirmed to attend the ceremony.

Also on the lineup is a list of Nollywood stars from Nigeria, among them Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Mercy Johnson, Osita Iheme of Aki and Paw Paw fame, as well as John Okafor, better known as Mr IBU.

The Nigerian music sensation, Davido, is also billed to attend.

The new Sierra Leonean First Lady, Fatima Bio, who is herself into showbiz, is thought to be the host of the artists whom she has worked with in the film industry.

There will be government delegations from other countries outside Africa, notably the U.S., where President Donald Trump last week named a delegation headed by the head of Peace Corps to fly to Freetown to partake in the event.

The inauguration comes a little over a month after Bio was sworn onto office following his electoral victory on March 31.

The occasion also coincides with the 56th birthday anniversary of the president. (NAN)

Source: NAN