Gunmen

By Saidu Adamu

Mr Bashir Mohammed, member representing Nguroje Constituency in the Taraba House of Assembly, has been kidnapped by gunmen in the early hours of Wednesday from his residence in Jalingo.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, DSP David Misal, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jalingo.

He said that Bashir (APC) from Sardauna Local Government was picked up after sporadic gun shots was heard around his house located next to the Comprehensive Secondary School, Jalingo.

Misal said the police and other sister security agencies were making frantic efforts to rescue the legislator,who is also the Minority Leader of the house and Chairman, Assembly Committee on Information,

He said the abductors had yet to make any contact with the family.

NAN recalls that Bashir is the second member of the Taraba House of Assembly that was kidnapped in recent years.

Hosea Ibi, member representing Takum I Constituency from Takum Local Government Area of the state was kidnapped and killed in December 2017. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Court symbol

By Adaeze Iroha

A 19-year-old girl, Jemila Ibraheem, was on Wednesday remanded in police custody in Lagos State, over alleged murder of her ex-lovers new girlfriend.

Ibraheem, who is an upcoming actress and resides in Satelite town area of Lagos, was charged with a count of murder.

The court however, did not take her plea.

Magistrate P.E. Nwaka, ordered that the defendant be kept at the Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, pending advice from the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Nwaka, adjourned the case until Jan. 4, 2021, for mention.

Earlier, the prosecutor, ASP Thomas Nurudeen, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on Nov. 18, on Ekoba St., at Monkey Village, Satelite town, Lagos.

According to him, the defendant went to her ex-lovers house and saw that the deceased, who was the new girlfriend had stayed overnight.

Nurudeen told the court that in a fit of rage, the defendant poured fuel all over the house and used a lighter to set the house on fire, with the deceased inside it.

He further stated that the deceased was rescued from the fire with the help of some neighbors but later died at the hospital as a result of all the burns she sustained.

Nurudeen noted thatthe alleged offence contravenes Section 223of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. (revised)

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that murder is punishable with death. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Prof. Yakubu begins second termi in office as INEC Chairman

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday swore-in Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC ), for the second and final five-year term in office.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the swearing-in took place just before the commencement of the weekly virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council, (FEC), in the Council Chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Senate had on Dec. 1, confirmed the nomination of Yakubu for re- appointment as Chairman of INEC.

Yakubus confirmation by the Senate followed the presentation of the report of its Committee on INEC by the Chairman, Sen. Kabiru Gaya, during plenary.

NAN reports that President Buhari had on Nov. 25, transmitted to the Senate for confirmation, the nomination of Yakubu for a second term in office.

Buhari reappointed Yakubu as Chairman of INEC for another five-year term on Oct. 27.

NAN reports that Yakubu is the first chair to be reappointed to head the commission in recent history.

Yakubu, who spoke to State House correspondents after taking his oath of office, pledged to redouble efforts towards ensuring the conduct of free and fair elections in the country.

He reiterated the commitment of INEC to partner with the National Assembly (NASS) in ensuring speedy passage of the amendment of the electoral legal framework.

He said: We have clearly demonstrated in recent elections that elections are getting better and they will continue to get better.

The National Assembly is holding a public hearing on the amendment of the electoral legal framework.

This is important and this time around, working with the National Assembly, we will ensure a speedy passage of the amendment bill and once it is assented to, it will help us enormously in confronting the challenges ahead.

The preparations for 2023 general elections have proceeded in earnest; we need certainty and therefore the electoral legal framework is fundamental, without which we cannot formulate our regulations and guidelines.

Without our regulations and guidelines, we cannot conclude work on the manual for the training of ad hoc staff for the elections.

So from here, I am going to proceed to the National Assembly, so work begins in earnest and we have already started.

NAN observed that the virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC)is being attended by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari and the National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno.

Other members of the cabinet physically attending the meeting include Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, and Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen and Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouk.

The Ministers of Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello as well as Ministers of State Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, Mines and Steel Development, Uche Ogah, Works and Housing, Abubakar Aliyu and Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba are also at the chamber for the meeting.

The Head of Service of the Federation, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan and other ministersare participating in the meeting from their various offices in Abuja, online. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

COVID-19 vaccine

An initial shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer arrived in Israel on Wednesday, the first of about 8 million Pfizer vaccines that the country is expected to receive.

The Israeli health ministry said this in a statement.

A DHL cargo flight from Belgiums Brussels landed at the Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv, carrying a small number of vaccines for a pilot run of the logistic of transportation and refrigerated storage procedure, statement said.

I believe in this vaccine, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the airport while receiving the vaccines.

He expected that the vaccine will receive the regulatory approvals in the coming days.

Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said the vaccination is one of the most important missions that Israel faces, adding that we see the beginning of the end of the pandemic.

On Thursday, another batch of tens of thousands of vaccines is expected to land in Israel, according to health officials.

Overall, the country with 9 million population is expected to receive some 8 million doses of Pfizer vaccine, enough to vaccinate about 4 million people.

Israel is developing its own coronavirus vaccine and has also ordered vaccines from Moderna and AstraZeneca.

At-risk populations and the elderly are expected to be vaccinated first, Eli Cohen, Israels intelligence minister and a member of the cabinet, said last week.

The Israeli health ministry reported on Wednesday a total of 348,968 coronavirus cases and 2,932 deaths. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Dogs detecting COVID-19

The University of Namibia, School of Veterinary Medicine has embarked on a pilot project to train and deploy COVID-19 detection dogs.

Under the project supported by the countrys health ministry, dogs are being trained to detect COVID-19 at airports, schools, harbours and sporting events.

Others are large gatherings, Conrad Brain, a veterinary surgeon at the school, said in a statement.

The dogs have learned to identify the molecular level of the samples, he said.

We are using Beagles as the preferred breed for now, because they come across as less intimidating to the public.

In the future, we want to start training dogs from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Namibia.

The radius for the smell of all dogs is approximately 1.5 meters. Therefore, all breeds should be able to do this, Brain said.

He said dog trainers and handlers have so far successfully trained four Beagles. (Xinhua/NAN)

Source: NAN News

CAF Logo

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has fined Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ,000 for his social media posts.

CAF said the post had tarnished its honour and image.

Aubameyang posted in the social media after Gabon spent the night on an airport floor ahead of an African Cup of Nations qualifier in November.

The player and his team mates were stuck at the airport in the Gambia after arriving for a qualifying game. They were not allowed to leave as officials argued over COVID-19 testing.

The Arsenal striker posted pictures of players sleeping on the airport floor and wrote: Nice job CAF, its as if we were back in the 1990s.

He later added: This will not demotivate us but people need to know and CAF need to take responsibility.

It is 2020 and we want Africa to grow but this is not how we will get there.

CAFs disciplinary committee said the content was offensive and degrading.

African footballs governing body also fined Gambias FA ,000, half of which was suspended for 24 months.

The Gambian federation did not comply with the loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship values and rules of fair play concerning the reception of the Gabonese delegation, CAF said in a statement.

Gabon arrived shortly before midnight and were allowed to go to their hotel about five hours later. They lost 2-1 to Gambia later in the day. (Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Abubakar Sani Bello, Niger State Governor

By Ismail Abdulaziz
Gov. Abubakar Bello of Niger says his administration will fully support small scale farmers in the state to enhance their productivity in the interest of residents and Nigerians.

Mary Noel-Berje, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, who disclosed this in a statement, said Bello made the pledge on Wednesday at a summit in Abuja.

The theme of the summit was Innovative and Strengthening of Small Farmers Capabilities Towards Productive Land Restoration Amid COVID-19 in Nigeria.

Bello acknowledged the need to support small scale farmers with tools and finances so as to increase productivity and ensure food security and sufficiency in Nigeria.

The governor said that exploring alternative sources of revenue would be an advantage to state governments.

He also noted that improving agriculture would curb insecurity ravaging some parts of the country especially the Northern region that had being battling with security challenges.

He said that the current recession in the world has negatively affected many aspects of governance not only in Nigeria but across the globe.

The governor said that it might be difficult to run government expenditures without alternative sources of revenues, adding that an initiative such as the summit was key.

He added that enhanced budgetary provisions for small scale farmers would go a long way in making it easier for them when they run out of cash.

Bello emphasised that the programme was important and urged other state governors to adopt the alternatives.

Source: NAN News

President Muhammadu Buhari

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to make sacrifices required to build a strong political party so as to enhance national development.

The president made the appeal on Tuesday in Abuja during an emergency virtual meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC.

He also urged the party to retrace its steps and explore the kind of consultations that gave birth to the governing party.

I want to appeal to all our party members and leaders at all levels to try and make the required sacrifices so that we are able to collectively restore our progressive and democratic political party which can nurture and give expression to our collective dream of building a strong united and developed Nigeria.

May I use this opportunity to remind all of us on the need to recreate our negotiation spirit of 2012-2013 under our legacy parties.

We must recreate the spirit that guided us to achieve the merger that produced the APC.

In those times, decisions reached at both formal and informal meetings were respected because they were required to produce the needed political platform that could guarantee electoral victory.

I have, through consultations with the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee and other leaders of the party, agreed that our challenges require that we take steps to rebuild the party from ward to national levels. The initiative to carry out membership registration revalidation is, therefore, a necessary step, he said.

The president advised leaders of the party to sustain discipline at all levels so as to maintain the achievements already gained by the National Caretaker Committee of the party.

He said: I am convinced that in the last five months, since the appointment of the National Caretaker Committee, the initiatives taken have brought a remarkable new atmosphere of hope in the party.

Healthy debates are now taking place and the potential for organs of the party to affirm majority positions as the decision of the party is now possible.

What is required now is for all of us as leaders of the party to maintain discipline and ensure that this new momentum is protected, sustained and that decisions of the party organs are respected by every member.

Despite the challenge to restore peace in the party and the series of elections at hand, the fact that we have gained more members and that we are not losing members to the opposition under the present interim leadership, indicates improvement for the party.

In fact, we have begun to win back our members who left us and other notable political leaders are being attracted to our party, particularly, David Umahi, Governor of Ebonyi State.

The president urged all attendees to dispassionately consider and adopt all the recommendations of the caretaker committee.

He said The responsibility of our partys NEC at this meeting is to adopt and dispassionately consider all the proposals submitted by the caretaker committee and grant all the necessary approvals requested to rebuild the party.

I believe that as leaders, our shared vision is to ensure that we are able to produce leaders that will not inherit any of the problems that led to the decision to dissolve our last National Working Committee.

There should be no debate about the fact that we all want to have a united leadership for our party the APC at all levels, he said.

Earlier, the National Caretaker Committee Chairman, Mai-Mala Buni, had thanked President Buhari for his total support to the interim leadership of the party.

Buni commiserated with his Borno State counterpart, Prof. Babagana Zulum, over the Zabarmari incident where more than 43 rice farmers were murdered by terrorists.

While giving the caretaker committees abridged report, Buni noted that a lot of aggrieved members of the party had been reconciled.

He said: Before the emergence of the caretaker committee, our party was a theatre of infighting both at national level and in many states.

There was a need to start the process of replacing our party leadership and to achieve that, we set up reconciliation committees.

Tempers within our party have substantially come down although the works of our respective reconciliation committees are yet to be concluded.

The NEC may therefore wish to review developments and direct accordingly, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Mai Mala Buni-led APC Caretaker Committee gets extension

By Ismaila Chafe

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has approved a six-month extension for the Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NEC also approved the dissolution of the party structures at the ward, states and national levels.

Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai who confirmed these developments when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting, said the NEC also approved the expulsion of former National Vice Chairman of the party in the South-South, Ntufam Hilliard-Eta.

He explained that Hilliard-Eta was dismissed from the party for refusing to withdraw the court case he instituted against the caretaker committee.

El-Rufai, who briefed the correspondents alongside Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo, and his Ondo counterpart, Rotimi Akeredolu, condemned the recent call for the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over security challenges in some parts of the country. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

APC logo

By Ismaila Chafe

The National Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaderships call for the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari over the security situation in the country.

The PDP recently called on the president to resign due to security challenges facing the country.

Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, who briefed State House correspondents at the end of the APC NEC meeting on Tuesday in Abuja, said that the committee condemned the call in very strong terms.

He said that the APC NEC frowned at the way and manner security issues were being politicised by the opposition party to score cheap political goals.

He said: The NEC condemns in very strong terms, the call by the PDP leadership and some of their cheer leaders for the resignation of Mr President.

NEC observes that security challenges, though regrettable, can only be addressed when all interests, civil and military, governments and opposition, security forces and indeed all citizens, collaborate irrespective of party affiliation.

This is not the time to politicise security.

The governor also revealed that the Committee approved a six-month extension for the Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee as well as the dissolution of the party structures at the ward, states and national levels.

He said the NEC also approved the expulsion of former National Vice Chairman of the party in the South-South, Ntufam Hilliard-Eta.

He explained that Hilliard-Eta was dismissed from the party for refusing to withdraw the court case he instituted against the caretaker committee.

The NEC approved the extension of the tenure of the Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee led by Mai Mala Buni, which expires in Dec. 25, 2020, for another six months period, to terminate on 30th of June, 2021.

This is to enable the Caretaker and Convention Planning Committee to conclude its assignment.

NEC has also donated its powers as enshrined in Articles 13.3 Subsection 5 and 13.3 Subsection 6 of the APC Constitution, to the Caretaker and Convention Planning Committee, he said

He said the NEC also approved the granting of waivers to persons who recently joined the party as well as those desirous of joining the party in the nearest future.

According to him, such new members will enjoy all the benefits and privileges accruable by virtue of their membership of the party.

The governor stated that the prospective members would be able to contest for positions in the party as well as contest elections without any requirement of being members for a number of years or period of time.

He said the NEC approved the expulsion of Ntufam Hilliard-Eta from the party for flaunting its directives to discontinue all litigation against the party and its members.

The NEC also approved the immediate dissolution of the party organs at the polling units, wards, local government, states and zonal levels as well as the non-National Working Committee component of the National Executive Committee.

It also approved the immediate reconstitution and composition of the dissolved Executive Councils to serve in their respective offices in a caretaker committee capacity, excluding the non-NWC members of NEC, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News