PDP blames Buhari for Reps disgraceful act

FEDERAL lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Thursday engaged in a free-for-all over the sharing of principal offices by the majority All Progressives Congress.

Reacting to the development, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party slammed President Muhammadu Buhari, saying “the disgraceful act” in the House was a direct consequence of President Buhari’s lack of democratic credentials and lack of respect for the independence and sanctity of the legislative arm of government.

DSS officials barred from ‘close protection’ of Buhari

Authorities of the Presidential Villa, Abuja have formally removed officials of the Department of State Services from spots where they can perform “close protection roles” for President Muhammadu Buhari.

The decision to restrict the officials’ access to the President was the peak of the inter-agency rivalry that has been rocking security agencies in the seat of power since Buhari was inaugurated on May 29.

Obama to meet Buhari on July 20 to discuss B’Haram

The United States President, Barack Obama, will host President Muhammadu Buhari at the White House on July 20 to discuss how to fight the Boko Haram militant group, among other issues, the White House said on Thursday.

“The visit will underscore the United States’ commitment to strengthening and expanding our partnership with Nigeria’s new government,” the White House said in a statement.

They have hijacked our change again - Pat Utomi

It may sound naïve, especially for a person who is obviously a partisan, but my concern and alarm have little to do with who won or lost in the National Assembly leadership elections palaver. Easy as this can be lost on the gladiators, we could be collectively sabotaging the poor ordinary people of Nigeria desperate for change. Could this elite which has consistently failed to find its mission and do for its people what their old classmates in schools in the United States and the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the West, have done for their people in Asia and Latin America, unwittingly miss this window built on a change mantra, and betray another generation? It was with this spirit of wondering how easily we chase power, unmindful of purpose that I exclaimed on seeing the political bloodletting in the National Assembly leadership selection. My reaction was, Oh my God, not again! With the process and outcome clearly signalling disunity, lack of discipline and weak goal-setting, and severe goal displacement, the least impact would be challenged implementation of what the people voted for.

Saraki holds peace talks with aggrieved Senators

Senate President Bukola Saraki has started reaching out to the All Progressives Congress leadership and colleagues opposed to his emergence as the head of the National Assembly.

A senator, loyal to him, Rafiu Ibrahim, made this known in Abuja on Sunday just as The PUNCH learnt that the APC leadership decided to soft-pedal on its initial opposition to the outcomes of the National Assembly leadership elections in order to stave off rebellion by its lawmakers.

Pics: Bukola Saraki elected Senate President

The 8th National Assembly has elected former Kwara governor Bukola Saraki as Senate president. He was elected unopposed as President of 8th Senate by 57 of 108 senators, with 51 senators, including Senator Ahmed Lawan, absent. see pics below...........

Adebayor’s kinsmen in Nigeria sad over the recent family crisis

The family crisis tearing apart Emmanuel Adebayor’s family has turned out to be a source of sadness for the Tottenham Hotspur player’s relations and kinsmen in Igbaye, Odo Otin Local Government Area of Osun State. The kinsmen in Adebayor’s hometown spoke to our correspondent on the burning issue.

A visit to the sleepy town by our correspondent revealed that the youths and some elderly persons, who are football fans in the town, are not oblivious of the quarrel tearing the family apart.

Ronaldo’s mother caught with €45,000 at airport

Dolores Aveiro, the mother of Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, was stopped at Madrid’s Barajas Airport last month and caught carrying an illegally large amount of cash as she prepared to fly out of the country, the newspaper El Mundo reported.

According to The Telegraph, 60-year-old Aveiro, who spends long periods of time with her multimillionaire footballer son in his luxury mansion outside Madrid, was held by border police at Barajas after it was found that she had €55,000 (£40,000) in her hand luggage. Rules against money laundering state that the maximum travellers are permitted to take out of Spain without declaring the transfer is €10,000.

Group ‎asks Buhari to revoke Tompolo’s pipeline contract

An anti-corruption group, Civil Society Network Against Corruption, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to revoke the oil pipeline protection contract awarded to a company linked to a former Niger Delta militant, Mr. Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo.

In a June 4, 2015 letter by its Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, and addressed to President Buhari, the group said despite the whooping sum of $103m paid to Tompolo‎ by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, the nation’s pipelines remained insecure.

APC picks Lawan as sole candidate for senate presidency

The All Progressives Congress on Saturday announced Senator Ahmed Lawan and Senator George Akume as sole candidates for the position of President and Deputy Senate President of the 8th Senate respectively.

This followed a primary election conducted by the National Working Committee of the APC at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

Kuku denies lobby to head N’Delta amnesty programme

The immediate past Special Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Kingsley Kuku has denied claims that he is lobbying the Buhari administration to remain in office as Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme.

Kuku, who spoke to newsmen in Abuja on Saturday, said he was honoured to have served the nation at the time he did and that he had since completed his assignment and moved on.

Buhari moves to slash own salary and allowances

There are strong indications that in fulfilment of his campaign promise to reduce the cost of governance, President Muhammadu Buhari may have concluded plans to slash his salary and reduce his personal emoluments.

It was learnt that the President expected the Vice-President and other political appointees to take a similar decision.

Pics: Pres. Buhari returns to Nigeria after his trips to Chad & Niger

President Buhari arrived Nigeria yesterday evening after his trip to Chad and Niger republic to talk to other presidents about how to defeat Boko Haram. well, we hope he has device a way to defeat Boko Haram because since he left the country on this mission the terrorist group has struck again in Maiduguri and yesterday evening another bomb blast went off in Adamawa. see more pics below.......

National Assembly to elect new leaders next tuesday

Members of the incoming 8th National Assembly will be electing their new leaders next week Tuesday June 9th. Strong contenders for the Senate President are Sen. Bukola Saraki and Senator Ahmed Lawan. Honorable Femi Gbajabiamila and Hon.Yakubu Dogara are strong contenders for the seat of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Sad: 150 die in Ghana petrol station explosion

No fewer than 150 lives were lost in Accra, capital of Ghana, after a petrol station went up in flames.

People were said to have sought shelter in a filling station because of a downpour when the tragedy struck. It was learnt that the explosion resulted from the flood that swept stored fuel into a nearby fire.

Spokesman for Ghana Fire Service, Billy Anaglate, had told the BBC that “at least 96 people have died in a fire at a petrol station in Ghana’s capital, Accra. The flooding helped cause the fire.”

N8bn scam: Suspects tricked CBN to deliver N1.6bn, says EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Thursday arraigned the last batch of the accused persons in the hearing of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s N8bn mutilated currency fraud suit at the Federal High Court in Ibadan.

The EFCC told Justice Adeyinka Faaj that the accused persons, conspired with other two suspects, Onabanjo Olumayowa and Tijani Olusoga, who are now at large, between 2011 and 2012 in Ibadan and tricked the CBN to pay N1.6bn to the Zenith Bank Plc, instead of N159,431,700.

New Electricity Tariffs That Will Take Effect From July 2015

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has issued new electricity tariffs that became effective for commercial and industrial consumers from 1 April 2015 and that would become effective for residential consumers from 1 July 2015. The new tariffs are in the Multi-Year Tariff Order, MYTO, 2.1 for the period 1 April 2015 to December 2018 and they replace the tariffs in MYTO 2 for the period 1 June 2012 to 31 May 2017.

The charges are in two parts, there is a fixed monthly charge and there is a charge for electricity consumption, the energy charge, which is measured in kiloWatt-hour, kWh. We give below the charges for residential consumers using single phase or three phase meters, category R2. Charges are given for four electricity distribution companies, DISCOs, namely Benin DISCO, Ibadan DISCO, Ikeja DISCO and Eko DISCO.

Fifa crisis: Ex-official Chuck Blazer details bribe-taking

The guilty pleas of former top Fifa official Chuck Blazer have been detailed with the release of papers from a 2013 hearing in New York.

He says that he and others on Fifa's executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the choice of South Africa as 2010 World Cup host.Mr Blazer says he also accepted bribes over the 1998 event.

N8bn currency scam: Court remands six CBN officials and others

JUSTICE Ayo Emmanuel of a Federal High Court, Ibadan, on Tuesday remanded six officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria arraigned for stealing and circulating mutilated Naira notes meant for destruction by the apex bank.

The six — Patience Okoro, Afolabi Johnson, Ilori Sunday, Kolawole Babalola, Olaniran Adeola and Fatai Yusuf — were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, charged for conspiracy, diversion and stealing of mutilated naira notes worth N8bn.

Buhari likely to head oil ministry in new cabinet

There are speculations that President Muhammadu Buhari will keep the petroleum minister portfolio for himself in the new cabinet rather than trust anyone else with the ministry, which currently contributes over 80 per cent of Nigeria’s revenue.