The impeachment investigation into Donald Trump has entered a new phase as the House Judiciary Committee begins hearings into Mr Donald Trump’s conduct. The public testimony by four experts on constitutional law comes one day after the House Intelligence Committee laid out the case for removing Mr Trump. The intelligence panel’s report said evidence of Mr Trump’s misconduct was “overwhelming”. If impeachment passes in the House, the US Senate will put Mr Trump on trial.The impeachment process began in September after an anonymous whistleblower complained to Congress about a July phone call by Mr Trump to the president of Ukraine, in…
Author: Emmanuel Anthony
Following the public outcry that greeted the hate speech bill, the Senate President Ahmed Lawan has said the Senate won’t pass the proposed anti-free speech bills. Lawan made the disclosure in response to a detailed written protest letter against the hate speech bill and anti-social media bill before the senate by the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA). He said legislators will listen to the pulse of the Nigerians who have rejected the bills and will do exactly as they demanded. Lawan had in his letter to HURIWA dated November 20, 2019 which was endorsed by his Chief of…
The governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello has allegedly asked all his appointees to submit a report of their ”stewardship” in the last election. It would be recalled that Bello won the governorship election held in November. He polled 406,222 votes to defeat Musa Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who secured 189,704, and Natasha Akpoti of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), who got 9,482. The governor won in 12 local government areas out of the 21 in the state. In a memo entitled, ‘submission of your stewardship to New Dimension administration’, signed by Folashade Ayoade, secretary to the state government, the governor…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, lambasted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for threatening to boycott future elections in Nigeria. The ruling party said the PDP has become disillusioned by the string of election victories recorded by the APC, including the 2019 Presidential Election, governorship wins, National Assembly seats and other governorship elections in Ekiti, Osun, Kano, Kogi, and Bayelsa states. Lanre Issa-Onilu, in a statement, noted that PDP’s threat was confirmation of APC’s earlier position that Nigeria was fast becoming a one-party State as a result of the “rudderless and soulless PDP”. He said: “No doubt, our country deserves…
The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) said it has successfully conducted a multi-sector link up operation involving troops from Nigeria, Chad, and the Niger Republic. A statement on Saturday by the Force’s Chief of Military Public Information, Colonel Timothy Antigha, said the Boko Haram terrorists suffered severe human and equipment losses during the operation conducted on Friday. It explained that this was in continuation of Operation Yancin Tafki in Arege, Metele and Duguri as troops of Sector 3 (Nigeria) and Sector 2 (Chad) linked up with their counterparts in Sector 4 (Niger) around the Kamadougou River. “13 terrorists were killed,…
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has made its position known on the Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill, also known as the Social Media Bill as it has kicked against the bill which has scaled second reading in the Senate. Its Executive Secretary, Tony Ojukwu said the commission stands with the opposing position of Nigerians while urging those who exercise their rights to do so with caution. “We stand with Nigerians and we believe that the media space should be free, people should be able to air their views, in doing so, and we urge those who exercise…
The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, has declared that the seat of Adams Oshiomhole as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is non-negotiable. Omo-Agege made the declaration while dismissing recent moves by some members of the party to remove Oshiomhole. Speaking in Abuja, the Deputy Senate President commended Oshiomhole for APC’s victory in Bayelsa and Kogi States. He said the victory was not a “tea party to remove the candidate of a sitting governor”. Omo-Agege added: “It was a difficult contest but we all came together to make history and we won Bayelsa State. “I want…
The Federal High Court, Abuja, has said the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, cannot stop the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from investigating him. Justice Binta Nyako said this while delivering the judgment, on Friday, in a suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/60/09 filed by El-Rufai. The governor was seeking the court’s determination whether as the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), he had complied with the guidelines approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the sale of Federal Government houses between May 2005 and May 2007. While El-Rufai was the applicant, the defendants from 1st to 13th include:…
A former Commissioner, Abdulkadir Mai, former Council Chairman Ibrahim Kana, former member of House of Assembly Service Commission, Yawale Boltungo and many others, all of Shelleng Local Government Area of Adamawa State, have been suspended from the All Progressives Congress (APC). The Shelleng LGA chapter of the APC which announced the suspension attributed it to anti-party activities allegedly perpetrated by the affected people. The Shelleng LGA Chairman of the APC, Alhaji Yawale Tela, told newsmen in the state capital, Yola, that the suspended members were working against the interest of the party. He said the suspension became inevitable owing to…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday, said the comment by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that its card readers were being circumvented, confirmed its position that the Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections, as well as the Kogi West Senatorial election were all manipulated and “therefore fraudulent.” PDP said the comment by two INEC commissioners; Festus Okoye and Haruna Mohammed on Wednesday, that the card readers were circumvented in elections conducted by the commission did not come to it as a surprise, adding that the Commission admitted to the rigging of the elections. A statement by PDP’s spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, said…
Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi State has approved the appointment of 513 additional aides to serve as his Technical Assistants (TA). The governor’ Principal Secretary, Chief Clement Nweke, who made this known in a statement in Abakaliki on Wednesday, said the appointees were drawn from the 171 political wards in the state. The appointees, according to him, are to report to the office of the principal secretary with their credentials for documentation. “Appointees from Abakaliki, Afikpo North, Afikpo South, Ebonyi and Ezza North Local Government Areas (LGA) are to report on Nov. 27, 2019. “The appointees from Ezza South, Ikwo,…
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ibrahim Emokpaire, has said that the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, is facing opposition because of his resolve to instill party discipline and supremacy. He said this in an interview with reporters on Wednesday in Abuja while reacting to the internal wrangling within the party. Emokpaire, a former APC national chairmanship aspirant, and the founder of Progressive Solidarity Forum (PSF), said those calling for Oshiomhole’s sack were “detractors that should not be reckoned with”. He recalled that before Oshiomhole’s election, the party had turbulent times, when indiscipline was the order…
The Leader of the Senate, Yahaya Abdullahi, has hinted that the red chamber would come up with a bill that would prescribe punishments for those who engage in electoral violence.Abdullahi stated this on Tuesday while contributing to a motion moved by Senator George Sekibo, on the violence that rocked the governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States recently. He stressed the need for the two main political parties in the Senate to work together and save the nation’s electoral process. The Senate Leader said, “It is important if the Minority Leader and myself can come up with a bipartisan bill to…
The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Socio-cultural Association and National Committee of Yoruba Youths, have expressed worries over the sudden indictment of the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema in the United States, US, for fraud. The groups warned that they won’t fold their arms and allow the alleged persecution of the Air Peace Chairman. In a statement signed by Comrade Odeyemi Oladimeji and Engr. Saleh Alhassan the National Secretary, the groups lamented that Onyema’s sudden indictment portends international conspiracy to rubbish one of the few outstanding entrepreneurs in Africa. The statement reads: “The sudden purported indictment of Barr Allen Onyema…
Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the Kogi West senatorial rerun election, Senator Dino Melaye, has accused the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole of suffering from “verbal diarrhoea.” Melaye was responding to Oshiomhole’s remark that all 16 senators that decamped from the party alongside former Senate President, Bukola Saraki have all been punished. The APC National Chairman, who spoke while speaking with State House correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja last week had said all the senators have been sacked from the senate. Oshiomhole had also…
Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State has inaugurated commissioners to join his cabinet. Fintiri performed the inauguration ceremony on Monday, nearly six months after he assumed office as the executive governor. Among the 23 newly inaugurated commissioners, Gov Fintiri named Adamu Atiku, a son of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, as Commissioner for Works and Energy Development. The ministry is one of a few newly designated by the Ahmadu Fintiri administration. The other commissioners and the ministries they are to head include Mohammed Umar – Ministry of Local Government Affairs, Elijah Tumba – Ministry of Construction, Rehabilitation, intervention and Humanitarian…
The crisis in the All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken a new turn as some aggrieved members of the party’s national executive council (NEC) are insisting on the resignation of Adams Oshiomhole, the national chairman. Before the NEC meeting at the weekend, some party members had accused the national chairman of deliberately delaying the meeting, asking him to convene it or step down.However, at the end of the meeting, the call for his resignation is still ongoing. At a press briefing after the NEC meeting, chairman of Zamfara chapter of the party, Lawal Liman, who led the aggrieved NEC members,…
Bayelsa State Governor-elect, Chief David Lyon, has revealed what he would do with the state’s money. Lyon said that a Certificate of Return he received from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was a social contract between him and the people of Bayelsa State. Lyon spoke when he received the certificate from INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of Bayelsa, Edo and Rivers states, Mrs. May Agbamuche. He vowed never to disappoint the people of the state, adding that the state’s money does not belong to him or his deputy. He also extend a hand of fellowship to the other governorship…
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday assured Nigerians that he had no third term agenda. Buhari declared that he won’t make the mistake of attempting to pursue a third term agenda. Speaking at the National Executive Council meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Abuja, the President explained that both age and the country’s constitution prevent him from seeking a third term. According to Buhari: “I’m not going to make the mistake of attempting a third term. “Besides the age, I swore by the Holy Book that I would go by the constitution and the constitution said two terms. “I…
Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, on Friday described the 9th senate under the leadership of Ahmed Lawan as a ‘rubber stamp.” He said this while frowning at the comment by the Senate President that any request from President Muhammadu Buhari was good for Nigeria. Lawan had in a statement said that the senate would always honour Buhari’s requests. “I want to assure you that any request that comes from Mr President is a request that will make Nigeria a better place in terms of appointments or legislation and the senate will act expeditiously to ensure that we play our part…
Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, stepped down proceedings in the continuation of trial of Abdulrasheed Maina, Chairman, defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTM), over his failing health. Justice Abang, who made the remark, said the order was to allow Maina, who was in court take his medication. The development began a few minutes after the commencement of the proceeding.When the matter was called, Maina, who was sitting with families and officers of the Nigerian Correctional Services, was assisted up by two of the officers, so as to be taken to the dock by his…
A former candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Etsako Federal Constituency of Edo State, in the House of Representative, Chief Blessing Agbomhere, has resigned from the party alongside his supporters. He said the PDP was no longer interested in winning and taking back the power they lost to the All Progressives Congress (APC), adding that politics was a serious business that requires serious-minded individuals with the commitment and passion to win and continue to win for the people. Agbomhere, in his letter of resignation, said his interest in politics was to be in a position to help his…
The Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, and others defaulting to submit their statements of income and expenditure accounts spanning from 2017- 2019 have come under fire as the Senate on Wednesday issued them a 7-day ultimatum to do so or face dire consequences. Other agencies are the Federal Airport Authority, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory Administration, Niger Delta Development Commission, Nigerian Investment Promotion Council, Federal Airport Authority and National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure. Also defaulting are, Nigeria Football Federation, Federal Roads Maintenance…
Donald Trump’s personal doctor, Sean Conley, on Tuesday issued a statement denying reports of the US President having Chest pain after he was rushed to the Walter Reed medical center in Washington. The White House medical center can usually organize routine medical tests on the president but Trump’s decision to snub the White House medical center for Walter Reed came as a surprise. Also, Trump’s visit to the hospital was not on schedule, so after Trump spent over an hour doing “examinations, labs and discussions” at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, reports started emanating that Trump had chest…
Senator Dino Melaye has revealed that he is heading to the International Court of Justice at The Hague to seek justice over the senatorial election conducted on Saturday. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on Monday declared Yahaya Bello as the winner of the Governorship election while the result of the Kogi West Senatorial election remains unknown. However, Dino Melaye who contested against Adeyemi Smart of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a supplementary election for the Senatorial slot is not happy with the turnout of event. In a statement on Tuesday, Melaye promised he would report Bello, Adeyemi and…
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the November 16 Kogi State governorship election, Musa Wada, has described the election as a coup against the people. Wada, at a news conference in Abuja on Monday, vowed to challenge the victory of Governor Yahaya Bello at the election petition tribunal. Bello won on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The PDP candidate said the overwhelming majority of the people of Kogi state have also rejected the conduct and outcome of the election. Wada said, “It is clear to all that there was no election on Saturday, November 16th…
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met behind closed doors with Bayelsa Governor-elect, Mr. David Lyon, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The governor-elect was accompanied on the visit by National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiohmole, Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, Gov. Badaru Abubakar Jigawa as well as Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva. Lyon, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the November 16 election in Bayelsa was declared winner after polling 352,552 votes. Lyon defeated his closest rival, Duoye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 143,172 votes.
The Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson has accused security agencies of conniving with the All Progressives Congress to rig the state governorship election. The governor called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to cancel all the areas where electoral materials were hijacked by suspected political thugs.Governor Dickson warned the security agencies not to push him to ask the people of Bayelsa to defend themselves with anything available to them. He said, “This election, allow the people to vote. Anywhere the people of Bayelsa have an opportunity to vote, they will vote for our party. They will vote for our candidate. The…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alerted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that agents of Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are threatening and forcing presiding officers, including NYSC members to endorse prefilled results sheets in favour of the ruling party in some local government areas. PDP alleged that the act was ongoing in Okene and Okehi Local Government Areas in Kogi Central Senatorial zone, where the governor and the APC are desperate to allocate fictitious votes and fabricate results in their favour. A statement by PDP’s spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan said: “Given the magnitude…
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State on Thursday knelt before the people of Kogi State, asking them to forgive Governor Yahaya Bello for any wrong he had done.The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, also knelt down next to el-Rufai. However, Bello did not join them in kneeling down. El-Rufai, while addressing a crowd at the All Progressives Congress rally in Lokoja, noted that Bello was young when he became governor and had made many mistakes. The Kaduna governor, however, said Bello had since retraced his steps.He said, “Many people say Yahaya Bello is young; that he has fought many…
