TODAY IN THE NEWS Former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark Military officers behind oil theft – Clark- Punch Elder statesman and First Republic Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark, on Tuesday in Abuja ignited a fresh controversy at the National Conference when he berated retired and serving military officers for engaging in illegal oil bunkering in the Niger- Delta. He also suggested the engagement of youths in the protection of pipelines and constant changing of military troops in the Niger-Delta to reduce oil theft. Clark said he had reported his findings to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo who directed the then Minister of Defence, Theophilus Danjuma, to investigate the involvement of the military in the matter. Clark, a delegate representing the Federal Government, made the accusation at the plenary of the Confab while contributing to the report of the Committee on Public Finance and Revenue chaired by a former Governor of Nasarawa State, Alhaji Adamu Aliero on Tuesday. Members of the BringBackOurGirls group protesting after filing a suit challenging a directive banning rallies in Abuja... on Tuesday Chibok Girls: Australia to Deploy Special Forces, IG Overrules Mbu- ThisDay • Protesters go to court, seek N200m damages The Australian government has offered to deploy its Special Forces to help Nigeria rescue more than 200 schoolgirls who were abducted more than a month ago by the extremist Boko Haram group from their secondary school in Chibok, Borno State. This came as the Inspector General of Police (IG). Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, overturned the order by the Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Joseph Mbu, banning the #BringBackOurGirls rallies in Abuja, stating that the Police High Command did not issue any order banning peaceful assemblies/protests anywhere in Nigeria. Australia said the Special Air Service (SAS) regiment is on standby to deploy for the rescue if the Nigerian government accepts the offer. From left, former Acting Governor, Mrs. Sarah Alade; new Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele; Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Alhaji Suleiman Barau and Deputy Governor, Operations, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, all of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, during the hand over to Emefiele in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: Gbemiga Olamikan. Emefiele, CBN governor unveils agenda tomorrow - Vanguard The new Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, will tomorrow unveil his agenda for the apex bank and the economy, following his assumption of duty yesterday as the bank’s 10th indigenous governor. The bank, in a statement by Mr. Isaac Okoroafor, Assistant Director, Corporate Communications Department, said: “The new Governor arrived at the CBN headquarters at 7.30a.m. yesterday and was received by the four Deputy Governors at the bank and expectant staff, led by Dr. Sarah Alade, whose tenure as Acting Governor ended on Monday. “At the brief handing over ceremony, the new governor thanked Dr. Alade, the other Deputy Governors and the media for gracing his formal assumption of office. The new Governor is expected to have a maiden world press conference tomorrow, where he will unveil his “agenda for the Central Bank of Nigeria and the people of Nigeria.” Reps bicker over APC’s minority leadership seats – The Guardian • Want explosives detectors installed on highways • Ask INEC to extend voters’ registration Moves to strip the All Progressives Congress (APC) of some of the four key minority leadership seats and re-distribute them among other minority parties in the House of Representatives generated commotion Tuesday, stalling deliberations on the floor of the House for about 30 minutes. The party has Femi Gbajabiamila (formerly of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), as Minority Leader, Kawu Sumaila (formerly of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), as Deputy Minority Leader, Samson Osagie (formerly of ACN), as Minority Whip, and Ahmed Datti (formerly of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), as Deputy Minority Whip. Meanwhile, to ensure that eligible voters participate in the forthcoming 2015 polls, the House of Representatives has directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend by a week the registration of voters, whose names were omitted from its register. Questionable defence contracts undermine Nigeria’s security - BusinessDay Four years into an insurgency that has cost the lives of over 12,000 people, including hundreds of military personnel, the Nigerian military only started deploying Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles last month in the major theatre of operations in the north-east. The Chinese-built CS/VP3 Bigfoot MRAP would be a welcome relief to soldiers who had hitherto been operating in vehicles mostly associated with militias than a national army, such as thin-skinned Toyota Hilux pickup trucks vulnerable to Boko Haram ambushes, small arms fire and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). The military failed to provide its soldiers in the frontlines with adequate firepower and protection, even as the US Joint IED Defeat Organisation in 2012 rated the Nigerian insurgency as the most IED-intensive in Africa. Defence sources tell BusinessDay that this is a symptom of the opaque and often corrupt procurement practices prevalent in the military, which often lead to unnecessary delays, wrong or defective equipment purchase, or outright stealing of monies. LASU students barricade Lagos road over hike in fees- The Nation The Lagos State University Students Union (LASUSU) yesterday took their hard-line stance against the hike in their tuition fee to another level, urging the state governor, Babatunde Fashola, to shut down the institution’s payment and registration portal. Its president, Mr Nurudeen Yusuf, the union’s President, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the closure of the portal was necessary until the government reduced the tuition fees. “We hereby appeal that the payment and registration portal be closed till the government makes pronouncement on LASU fees as proposed by the students’ union. This is to ward off unforeseen eventualities that may arise in the nearest future,” he said. Yusuf said the deadline by the management for students to pay their fees and register courses for the 2013/2014 academic session before May 30 had elapsed. W’Cup: Keshi defends choice of Michael, Nwofor, others- Daily Independent Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi has defended the selection of the quartet of Babatunde Michael, Michael Uchebo, Uche Nwofor and Kunle Odunlami for the forthcoming World Cup on the premise that the players were very determined and hungry for success. Keshi named his 23-man team for the World Cup in Brazil on Monday night after much delay. The Super Eagles, will play Iran on June 16 before facing Bosnia and group favourites Argentina respectively. Being their first World Cup appearance, Keshi feels the players will not be overwhelmed by the tournament’s atmosphere because “they are professionals and will be ready to play out their hearts.” “They are good players, they are fighters, they want to prove something, they are hungry. I like to have players who are hungry, who want to prove themselves. “Kunle is a good player, he is a utility player, who can play anywhere in the defence, he is committed, his work ethics are very high. I like players like that.” Kwankwaso may clinch APC presidential ticket– National Mirror …as party finally dumps Buhari, Tinubu There are indications that Kano State governor, Rabi’u Kwankwaso, could emerge as the presidential candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2015 general elections. This follows the decision of the party to dump former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu from the race to pick its presidential and vice presidential candidates for the 2015 presidential election. National Mirror learnt that the governor is widely accepted among the different strata of the party as a candidate that could boost its chances in the election. Equally in his favour, according to findings, was the result of the recent local government elections in the state where the party garnered over two million votes, winning all the 44 local government chairmanship positions and all the councillorship seats. Kwankwaso, it was learnt has what it takes to win the presidency for the opposition party, even as our source said that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal was never in contention. Oshiomhole accuses Edo PDP leaders of intellectual laziness– The Sun Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has accused the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state of intellectual laziness, saying the party only offers comic relief to people of the state. Speaking yesterday when he received the new leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Mr. Anselm Ojezua in his office, Oshiomhole said Edo State Government remains accountable and transparent and would not be deterred by the flimsy accusations of the opposition party. He said: “I have read some comments in the newspapers which reveal the quality of leadership of the opposition. “For example, when we took the N25 billion bond in 2010, I did explain and I repeated it at several fora that we are servicing the bond. We spend about N520 million every month to service the bond. How such servicing has become an issue only an illiterate will wonder that we took a bond and we are servicing it. Dana crash: AIB releases second preliminary report– Nigerian Tribune • Dana crash: AIB’s report is inconclusive —Coroner court Two years after 153 passengers and crew of the ill-fated Dana Aircraft died in Lagos, a coroner court sitting in Lagos, on Tuesday, held that the court could not arrive at a specific verdict on the cause of the crash owing to inconclusive investigation by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB). However, the presiding coroner only made recommendations on steps to be taken by authorities to avoid future mistakes, as well as improving rescue operations whenever such an incident occurs. In his judgment, Coroner Oyetade Komolafe X-rayed the circumstances leading to the inquest, as well as the number of people and government agencies that testified before him and concluded that no verdict could be arrived at due to failure of the AIB, the body responsible for investigating air crashes, to present a formal report of its investigations to it. According to Komolafe, 17 witnesses, including security agencies, emergency agencies, State Chief Pathologist, Professor John Obafunwa, representatives of the airline and other governmental agencies, gave evidence. At the end of his findings, Komolafe made a nine-point recommendation to the authorities to respond to such future emergency case. Syrias presidential election: A sham? Voting begins in war-torn Syria; Bashar al-Assad expected to win– CNN Polls for the Syrian presidential election opened Tuesday against the backdrop of a bloody and protracted civil war. The outcome is hardly in doubt: President Bashar al-Assad is almost guaranteed to emerge victorious in a vote that opposition groups and many Western countries say has been be rigged from the start. Syria isnt renowned for holding free and fair elections. When al-Assad came to power 14 years ago, he ran unopposed, securing more than 99% of votes, according to state media. Seven years later, he won again with a similarly mountainous share of the vote. His father, Hafez al-Assad, ruled Syria with an iron fist for 29 years before he died in 2000. The Syrian regime says the election has to be held under the new constitution and shows the country is moving forward.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 09:31:19 +0000
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