*** Uproar as four northern governors visit Amaechi •Protesters stoned governors’ convoy – Rivers govt •Kwankwaso, Aliyu, Lamido, Nyako demand CP’s redeployment - PUNCH There was commotion again in Rivers State as thousands of youths believed to be loyal to the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday, reportedly threw stones and other objects at the convoy of the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa. Vehicles in the convoy were conveying four northern governors – Sule Lamido (Jigawa); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); and Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) – who were on a solidarity visit to Amaechi. A bus in which some commissioners in the state were seated in was said to have had its windscreen smashed by the protesters. But the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Angela Agabe, told The PUNCH that “there was no time the governors’ convoy was attacked. “Nothing like that (attack) happened,” she said, adding that adequate security was provided at the airport to forestall any unpleasant development. --------------------------------------------- ---------------------------- *** Constitution amendment Senate rejects fiscal autonomy for LG, single term for president, govs, FCT mayoral status •Votes in support of underage marriage - TRIBUNE THE Senate, on Tuesday, concluded its debate on the proposed amendments to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) by voting against 16 out of the 31 clauses as contained in the recommendations of its committee on the review of the constitution. This was as the upper legislative chamber caved in to pressure from Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima to vote against the recommendation of the committee which sought to protect child rights by expunging Section 29 (4) (b) of the constitution which stated, “Any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age.” The President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, had, at the commencement of the voting exercise, said it would require 73 votes to support the desired changes in the current constitution, urging his colleagues to vote according to the dictates of their conscience. In the same vein, the upper legislative chamber also refused to approve the recommendation which sought to separate the office of the Minister of Justice from that of the Attorney- General of the Federation. The senators voted against Clause 22 which sought for the removal of the word, “Force” from the Nigeria Police Force and also shot the desire of Clause 25 which sought a mayoral status for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). --------------------------------------------- --------------------------------- *** US, EU condemn Nigeria’s inability to hand over President Al-Bashir - VANGUARD The United States government and European Union, yesterday, condemned the Federal Government’s refusal to hand over the Sudanese President, Omar Al Bashir, to the International Criminal Court, ICC, for prosecution over alleged crimes against humanity. The Sudanese leader was in Abuja last weekend, to attend the just concluded African Union conference on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. In a statement by Information Officer, Rhonda Ferguson-Augustus, the U.S. government said: “We regret Nigeria’s decision to welcome a visit by Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir. “ President Hassan al-Bashir and other Sudanese individuals are subject to ICC arrest warrants for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. It is serious cause for concern that these individuals remain at large and continue to travel across international borders.” Reacting to the EU said Nigeria ought to have refused the Sudanese President entry into the country in accordance with ICC’s arrest warrant place on him. The EU, in a statement by High Representative, Catherine Ashton, said: “The High Representative is concerned by the visit of President of Sudan, Al-Bashir, to Nigeria , a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC.” --------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- *** Poly teachers suspend strike - GUARDIAN THE Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has suspended its nationwide strike following the level of progress made in negotiation with government and the intervention of the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Education. In a statement signed by ASUP National Publicity Secretary, Clement Chirman, the poly teachers said “the suspension is also to allow the joint- committee liaise with relevant ministries, agencies and parastatals with a view to tackling all the issues contained in the union’s demands within a time-frame of one month as against the two weeks earlier requested by the committee.” Chirman said the strike was suspended after an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the union which was held in Abuja yesterday. “The union, after a holistic appraisal of the progress made so far, resolved that the strike be suspended.” ASUP also noted that the circular for implementation of CONTISS 15 migration for lower cadres has been released, while appreciable work has been done on reconstitution of governing councils of federal polytechnics which were earlier omitted. “And on the enrolment of polytechnics into the IPPIS module, the union remains resolute on its earlier position that reasonable caution be employed to take care of the autonomy of polytechnics.” The union, however, urged stakeholders in the negotiation to respect the agreement reached to avoid further disruption of academic activities in the polytechnics. --------------------------------------------- ---------------------- *** Football scandal: IG steps in - VANGUARD As the world waits on Nigeria to unravel the culprits behind the ridiculous 79 -0 and 67 -0 scorelines recorded in two matches of the amateur League play-offs, the Nigeria Police have brought a new twist to the whole drama by distancing themselves from one of the Clubs – Police Machine FC which beat Bubayaro FC 67 – 0. “The team that is involved in that fantasy scoreline is not Police Machine Team. The Police Machine team is a brand name for the Police team. The one you people are referring as Police Machine team are Police FC from Yola. It is a rag- tag team in the state and cannot be said to be the Police Machine team”, CSP Frank Mba who is the deputy Force Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Police Force said yesterday on our hotline. He was asked about the investigation of the alleged match fixing by the amateur teams during their play offs. “The Police Machine team are actually topping their Nationwide League in Abuja and cannot be said to be involved in this basketful of goals. All the same, the Police have initiated investigation on our own without waiting for anyone. But our investigation is limited because there are certain technical areas we cannot go into."
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 06:10:32 +0000
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