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 PRESIDENT BUHARI SWEARS IN 4 NEW PERM SEC 1.; President Muhammadu Buhari during the swearing-in Four new Permanent Secretaries held at the Council Chambers State House Abuja.  The New Federal Permanent Secretaries, Mr. James Sule, Mr. Ismaila Abubakar, Mrs. Ibien e Patricia Roberts, Heads of Civil Service of the Federal, Dr. Folashade Ye mi-Esan, Alhaji Shehu Aliyu Shinkafi and Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed as President Buhari Swears -in Four new Permanent Secretaries held at the Council Chambers State House  The New Federal Permanent Secretaries, Mr James Sule, Mr Ismaila Abubakar, Mrs. Ibiene Patricia Roberts and Alhaji Shehu Aliyu Shinkafi as President Buhari Swears -in Four new Permanent Secretaries held at the Council Chambers State House Abuja.  

A nursery school teacher in China has been sentenced to death for poisoning dozens of children, one of them apparently fatally, in an act of revenge against a colleague. A court in the central province of Henan said Wang Yun put sodium nitrite into porridge being prepared for her colleague’s students after a falling out with the colleague. The attack in March last year made 25 children ill. Reports at the time said they began vomiting and fainting after eating their breakfast. One boy was severely ill for months and died in January, according to news reports. The court said on Monday that Wang knew sodium nitrite was harmful and acted “with no regard for the consequences”. Her “criminal methods and circumstances were exceedingly bad, with especially severe circumstances, and she should be severely punished in accordance with the law,” the court’s sentencing statement said. The court said Wang and the manager of the nursery must compensate the children’s families. It was not the first t...

 Mavin Records boss, Don Jazzy, has reacted to the recent outburst of one of his artists, Rema on social media. Rema on Monday went wild with series of tweets via his Twitter account where he made a lot of revelations. “Why should I stop him from tweeting? “He is passing a message. Read on,”   He said.

  Several others were also injured while residents of communities under Jibia Local Government Area of the state staged a protest over the spate of insecurity in the area. Several others were also injured while residents of communities under Jibia Local Government Area of the state staged a protest over the spate of insecurity in the area. SaharaReporters gathered that the protesters had blocked the popular Katsina-Jibia Highway in protest to repeated bandits attack when the victim was shot dead by the police, who were drafted in to contain the protest. The protesters comprising adults and children asked President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Aminu Masari to resign over the spate of insecurity in the state.  Katsina is one of the states in the North that had suffered from repeated attacks by armed bandits on communities. No fewer than 300 people have been reportedly killed by bandits in Jibia, Kankara, Dutsinma, Musawa, Danmusa and Safana local government areas of the state i...

An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti, on Tuesday, sentenced a 29-year-old cultist, Gbenga Aluko, aka Cherry, to death by hanging for masterminding the killing of some members of another cult. Justice Abiodun Adesodun, who found the convict guilty of the charge preferred against him, sentenced him to death accordingly Justice Adesodun said, “The penalty for the offence committed and established against the defendant is death. He is hereby sentenced to death by hanging. May the Lord have mercy on your soul.” Aluko was said to have been found on January 23, 2019, at Ado Ekiti found to be member of the Eiye Confraternity, contrary to Section 4 of the Secret Cult (Abolition and Prohibition) First Amendment Law No. 6, Laws of Ekiti State of Nigeria, 2017. He and his cult members were said to have masterminded the killing of members of a rival group as well as involved in duping people, while pretending to be herb seller and political thug. Among the victims were one person simply i...

  2Baba, Yemi Alade, Rema and Cobhams have been selected by Coca-Cola to perform at its first live virtual celebration of Nigeria at 60 on October 1. The scintillating fusion of music is to uplift and bring people together for the Independence Day celebration. Leveraging its ongoing ‘Open Like Never Before’ initiative, Coca-Cola will host an exciting schedule of activities beginning with this uplifting #NaijaLikeNeverBefore initiative to honor the nation by assembling the largest number of people to sing the National Anthem at once. Marketing Communications Director – West Africa Business Unit Coca-Cola Nigeria, Monali Shah commented, said: “We created the music experience to celebrate and honor the nation as one indivisible country. “#NaijaLikeNeverBefore will uplift the spirit of togetherness, foster authenticity and positivity of Nigerians as we celebrate Naija @60”. Rema on his recent radio interview was excited at being a part of the event. He called on all Nigerians home and ...

  The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Port Harcourt Zonal Office on Tuesday said it has commenced interrogation and investigation of 11 suspected oil bunkerers arrested in Rivers State by the Nigerian Navy. The suspects, it was gathered were arrested and handed over to the EFCC on Monday, September 28, 2020, by the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base in the Bonny area of the state following their suspected involvement in illegal oil bunkering. It was gathered that the suspects were nabbed on September 22, 2020, alongside 320 drums of petroleum product suspected to be illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel). According to a statement signed the EFCC Head of Media and Publicity in the state, Wilson Uwujaren, the 11 suspects were identified as Indongesit Mfon; Asuquo James; Samuel Bassey; Blessed Bassey; Victor Attah; Edet Okon; Nse Okon; Innocent Effiong; Njok Okon, Uduak Asuquo and Effiong Asuquo. Uwujaren added that a Principal Detective, Superintendent of the EFCC,...

  Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, has challenged Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, to mention his contributions to the state in his ministerial capacity. Wike, who spoke on Monday in an interview on AIT, said he would resign immediately as governor if Amaechi, his predecessor, could mention just one achievement. The governor threw the challenge while reacting to Amaechi’s claim that he (Amaechi) is one of the best governors the state has ever had. Speaking on Sunday at the funeral of Adolphus Karibi-Whyte, a former justice of the supreme court, Amaechi complained of rising insecurity, bad roads and intimidation of the judiciary in the state. “You have lost your voice. The sage (the late justice) has gone under and nobody is speaking. When I was governor, I gave people voices, but they have blocked those voices,” Amaechi had said. “Everyone is scared. We are going back to when Ateke held sway. We are going back to the period where we run away from our people. We are...

The Governor of Crossriver State, Ben Ayade, signed a transaction advisory agreement for the Full Business Case of the construction of the Bakassi Deep Seaport between the state government and a Canadian firm, CPCS Transcom Limited. Under the terms of the agreement, CPCS is expected to deploy its expertise in the areas of transaction structuring, public-private partnerships, financial and economic modelling, as well as engineering and social and environmental advisory in the execution of the project.

  Organised Labour represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress has given reasons for shelving its planned nationwide strike and protests. It made this known in a joint communique on Tuesday. The Communique was titled, ‘Text of the joint communique on the resolution of trade dispute between the Federal and the organised Labour represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) at the State House Banquet Hall on September 27’. On behalf of organised labour, the communique was signed by NLC President Ayuba Wabba; TUC President Quadri Olaleye; Secretary-General NLC, Emmanuel Ugboaja; Secretary-General TUC Musa Lawal Ozigi; NUPENG President Williams Akporeha; PENGASSAN President Festus Osifo; President NUEE Martin Uzoegwu and President, SSAEAC Chris N. Okonkwo. According to the labour leaders, they considered the impact of COVID-19 before agreeing to shelve the industrial action. They also noted that the Federal Government explained t...

  The Independent National Electoral Commission, on Monday, commenced the processes that would lead to the replacement of manual voting with an electronic voting system. Already, the commission has invited manufacturers of electronic voting machines around the world to practically demonstrate how the machines work, preparatory to the full migration. The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this during the demonstration of electronic voting machines. He said, “Over the years, the commission has been automating the critical pillars of the process. The biometric register of voters has been updated continuously. At the moment, the INEC register of voters is the largest database of citizens in Nigeria. “In addition, the combination of biometric voter cards commonly known as the Permanent Voter Card and the Smart Card Reader have revolutionised the accreditation of voters during elections. "More recently, the introduction of a number of portals has facilitated the seamless nomin...

Controversial journalist, Kemi Olunloyo has said that she has finally forgiven Davido following the social media row that greeted Davido’s diss of the social media influencer. Davido took to social media to slam Kemi Olunloyo after she claimed the singer is still trying to recover after Chioma broke up with him. Speaking exclusively with Seye Kehinde, Kemi stated that despite the fact that Davido has not come to apologise personally, his colleagues and close allies have reached out on his behalf and she has let it all go. SheControversial journalist, Kemi Olunloyo has said that she has finally forgiven Davido following the social media row that greeted Davido’s diss of the social media influencer. Davido took to social media to slam Kemi Olunloyo after she claimed the singer is still trying to recover after Chioma broke up with him. With regards to Davido, I feel that he’s not a child. He’s a grown adult. He has a lot of children, he built a house he has a career in music, and I feel t...

Some Nigerian celebrities have reacted to the emergence of Laycon as the winner of BBNaija ‘lockdown’ season 5. Laycon emerged winner of the Lockdown edition after he scored the highest votes at 60%. Laycon won the grand prize worth N85 million, ahead of Dorathy, Nengi, Neo and Vee. The likes of Don Jazzy, Stephanie Coker, Regina Daniels, Korede Bello celebrated Laycon. See some of the reactions below; @Don Jazzy “ Congratulations to Laycon and the Icons for a landslide victory. It’s not beans. #Bbnaija @NseIkpeEtim “ Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!! YES!!!!! @KoredeBello “ 60% Of Lay Lay!! Congratulation Laycon.” @Stephanie Coker “ Are they MAD!!!!!!!!!!! Laycon light up@the world bro. @ReginaDaniels “ This guy here is a product of Grace. He came to promote his music, he left as a winner! Congratulations Laycon.”

 

  Japan makes an exoskeletal robot that aids Crippled people get back on their feet.

  The Federal Government said, going by its projections, digital economy would contribute more than 45 percent to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) given that the contributions of the ICT sector to the GDP stands at 17 percent. The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, who disclosed this, noted the COVID 19 pandemic is fast-tracking adoption of digital technology in the country. Pantami spoke while addressing participants at the virtual Nigeria Internet Governance Forum 2020 (vNIGF) with the theme: “Achieving Inclusive Digital Economic Development in the Post-COVID 19 Era”. He disclosed the broadband plan 2020-2025, which focused more on broadband penetration, has started yielding the desired results given that as at July 2020 the level of broadband penetration peaked at 42.0 percent. Pantami expressed hope that at the end of the year, it will reach at least 50 percent. “We are making use of the covid-19 era to achieve digital economy development,” the Min...

  Public transportation might not seem so appealing to everyone. After all, you have to follow schedules and plan your trip ahead, elbow and get elbowed by multiple people during rush hour (accidentally, of course), and you can never choose who you are traveling with. But all the struggle is really kinda worth it when you think about the benefits like less crowded roads, lower CO2 emission, and so on. Knowing this, many countries contemplate making public transportation free and while some countries even made some effort by making certain means of public transport free for certain groups of people (for example, students and youth under 18), Luxembourg is the first country to make all public transportation absolutely free. Surely enough, not everyone is convinced about this “leap of faith”. Claude Moyen, a teacher who travels by train to his school in the town of Diekirch every day, told The Independent he feared the quality of journeys might suffer. I’m not sure if making public tr...

A female friend of the former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, Elizabeth Akinmuda, has visited him in Nigeria from Glasgow, Scotland. The visit is coming just days after the barely six-year-old marriage of Fani-Kayode to his estranged wife, Precious Chikwendu, crashed due to alleged domestic violence. Fani-Kayode thus raised eyebrows on Friday when he gleefully announced via his Twitter that Akinmuda, his longtime friend, had come visiting him all the way from Scotland. He tweeted: “Great to see my dear friend Elizabeth Akinmuda again after 6 long years. She flew in all the way from Glasgow, Scotland to say hello. “You are looking great Elizabeth and thanks for coming. Blessings.” Meanwhile, Akinmuda’s visit has generated a lot of reactions from Nigerians who find her sudden visit suspicious. Here are some tweets: @glamor_mute: “Suddenly remembered you after 6years of Precious filling up dat space…anyway Elizabeth, we have 4 toddlers to be taken care off…no hide face …sit and ta...

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has insisted that it will carry on with its proposed strike action with regards to the recent increase in electricity tariff and the removal of petrol subsidy. This resolve was taken following a closed-door meeting between the NLC and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila. Mr Gbajabiamila had on Sunday met with representatives of NLC, at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, in an attempt to mediate and broker an amicable solution to the impasse between Organised Labour and the Federal Government (FG). Briefing journalists after the meeting, NLC President Comrade Ayuba Wabba said the proposed strike by the union will proceed unless the FG addresses the issues. Reacting to the court order restraining the NLC from downing tools, Mr Wabba said the organization has not been served with the order and cannot speak on it. He, however, noted that there is a judgement of a Federal High court stopping the increase of electricity tar...

The  Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF)   has pleaded with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to shelve its planned strike and participate in broad consultation with various stakeholders. The governors made the call in a communiqué issued after dialogue between representatives of the forum and union which took place in the Abuja residence of the Governors’ Forum Chairman and Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti on Saturday. The meeting was held to resolve the impasse occasioned by the threat by workers to embark on industrial action if the Federal Government did not rescind the decisions to increase the pump price of petroleum product and electricity tariff. The meeting was attended by the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba; accompanied by the TUC President Quadri Olaleye and the NLC General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboajah as well as the Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Asishana Okauru. Mr Fayemi said that the governors’ forum decided to join the ongoing negotiations with a view to...

The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed on Saturday said the recent increase in electricity and fuel prices will benefit ordinary Nigerians in the long-run. Mr Mohammed made the remarks while meeting with online publishers in Lagos. He also appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress to shelve its industrial action planned for Monday. The planned action, which is being organised as a protest against the increases, can only bring more hardship to ordinary Nigerians, Mr Mohammed argued. “Ordinary citizens are not the beneficiaries of the subsidy on petroleum products that has lasted for years,” the Minister said, adding that the government can no longer afford the cost of the subsidy. The Minister also argued that despite the increase, Nigerians still pay less for fuel, compared to neighbouring countries. On electricity, Mr Mohammed said the hike will lead to increased quality in the supply of power, noting that the government cannot sustain its subsidy to the sector. Again, he stressed th...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a rare apology Friday over what he described as the “unexpected and disgraceful” killing of a South Korean at sea, Seoul’s presidential office said. Apologies from the North — let alone attributed to Kim personally — are extremely unusual, and the message comes with inter-Korean ties in deep freeze as well as a stand-off in nuclear negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington. Analysts said the North was looking to placate its neighbour after the shooting — the first time its forces killed a Southern citizen for a decade — provoked outrage in the South. The fisheries official was shot dead on Tuesday by North Korean soldiers, and Seoul says his body was set on fire while still in the water, apparently as a precaution against coronavirus infection. Kim was “very sorry” for the “unexpected and disgraceful event” that had “disappointed President Moon and South Koreans”, rather than helping them in the face of the “malicious coronavirus”, said Suh Ho...

The suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, has concluded his defence before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry on the activities of the anti-graft agency. But, Magu was shocked that Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) refused to honour the invitation of the panel. Malami, who was subpoenaed by the commission,   said his non-appearance is constitutional Malami said the terms and wordings of the invitation extended to him were against constitutional provisions. Magu, it was learnt, will ask the Salami panel to declare all the allegations against him as frivolous, should Malami fail to appear. The source said: “It was a strange and bizarre twist of events as Malami refused to appear before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry headed by the retired President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, despite a subpoena issued to him by the Chairman of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry set u...